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Ex  Libris 

Cat  and  Henry  H.  Bucher 


LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 


JUL  2  9  2003 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


7 


HENRY  & 


Digitized  by 

the  Internet  Archive 

in  2015 

https://archive.org/details/educationinafricOOafri_0 


Education  in  Africa 


A  Study  of  West,  South,  and  Equatorial 
Africa  by  the  African  Education  Com- 
mission, under  the  Auspices  of  the  Phelps- 
Stokes  Fund  and  Foreign  Mission  Societies 
of  North  America  and  Europe 


Report  Prepared  by 
Thomas  Jesse  Jones 

Chairman  of  the  Commission 


JARY  CP  FkINCET 

ON 

JUL  2  9  2003 

THECLOGiCAL  SEMINARY 

Phelps- Stokes  Fund 
297  Fourth  Avenue 
New  York 


Copyright  1922 
By  Phclps-Stok«  Fund 


piiateA  ia  0. 8.  A« 


CONTENTS 


Introduction.   By  Dr.  Anson  Phelps  Stokes   xii 

Foreword.   By  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  xxvi 

Chapter  I.  Africa  and  Education   1 

Wealth  of  Resources  and  Natural  Beauty   1 

Healthfulncss  of  Africa   4 

Improvability  of  the  African  People   5 

European  and  American  Influences   7 

Adequacy  and  Reality  of  Education  in  Africa   9 

Essentials  of  Educational  Organization   11 

The  Realization  of  Educational  Ideals   13 

Chapter  II.  Adaptations  of  Education   16 

Adaptation  in  the  Education  of  the  Individual   18 

Health   18 

Use  of  Environment     20 

Preparation  for  Home  Life   22 

Recreation  or  the  Use  of  Leisure  Time   25 

Languages  of  Instruction   25 

Conventional  School  Subjects   26 

Character  Development  and  Religious  Life   27 

Adaptation  in  Community  Education   28 

Rural  Community  Education   29 

Urban  Community  Education   35 

Chapter  III.  Organization  and  Supervision   38 

Educational  Organization   43 

Elementary  Schools   43 

Secondary  Schools   46 

Colleges   48 

Educational  Supervision   49 

Government  Board  of  Advice   50 

Supervision  and  Inspection   51 

General  Administration   54 

Chapter  IV.  Education  of  the  Masses  and  of  Native  Leadership   57 

Education  of  the  Masses   59 

Local  Day  School   60 

The  Middle  School   61 

Community  Activities   63 

Education  of  Native  Leadership   65 

Secondary  Education   66 

Teacher  Training   68 

Training  in  Trades  and  Handicrafts   69 


VI  EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 

Agricultural  Education   72 

Training  of  Medical  Assistants   74 

Training  of  Religious  Workers   74 

College  Education   75 

Significant  Features  of  Certain  African  Schools   77 

Chapter  V.   Cooperation  for  the  Education  of  Africans   80 

Elements  of  Cooperation   81 

The  Government   82 

Commercial  and  Industrial  Concerns   83 

Missions  '   84 

The  Native  People   85 

Forms  of  Cooperation   89 

Government  and  Missions   90 

Cooperation  of  Mission  Societies   92 

General  Cooperation   94 

Chapter  VI.   Sierra  Leone   97 

I.  Economic  and  Sociological  Background   97 

Freetown  and  the  Peninsula   98 

The  Protectorate   102 

European  Organizations   105 

II.  Education   107 

Freetown  and  the  Peninsula   108 

The  Protectorate   113 

III.   Summary  and  Recommendations   117 

Chapter  VII.  The  Gold  Coast   121 

I.   Economic  and  Sociological  Background   121 

The  People   121 

The  Country   125 

European  Organizations   126 

11.   Education   129 

Government  Schools   131 

Scottish  Mission  Schools   133 

Wesleyan  Mission  Schools   137 

Roman  Catholic  Mission  Schools   139 

Former  Bremen  Mission  Schools   140 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Mission  Schools     140 

Church  of  England  Schools   140 

Seventh  Day  Adventist  Schools   141 

Independent  Schools   141 

III.   Summary  and  Recommendations   141 

Chapter  VIII.  Nigeria   145 

I.   Economic  and  Sociological  Background   145 


CONTENTS  VII 

« 

The  People   ^6 

The  Country   150 

European  Organizations   152 

IT.    Education   155 

Southern  Nigeria   156 

Government  Education   157 

The  Church  Missionary  Society   158 

The  Roman  Cathohc  Mission   161 

The  Scottish  Mission     163 

Wesleyan  Mission   167 

Primitive  Methodist  Society   168 

Qua  Iboe  Mission   168 

American  Southern  Baptist  Society   169 

Northern  Nigeria   169 

Government  Schools   171 

Mission  Schools   173 

III.   Summary  and  Recommendations   174 

Chapter  IX.  British  South  Africa   179 

I.   Economic  and  Sociological  Background   179 

Union  of  South  Africa   180 

Interaction  of  Racial  Groups   184 

IT.   Education   190 

Government  and  Education   190 

Cape  Province   192 

Natal   194 

The  Transvaal   197 

Orange  Free  State   198 

Basutoland   199 

Rhodesia   199 

Union  of  South  Africa   200 

Typical  Native  Institutions   200 

III.   Summary  and  Recommendations   220 

Chapter  X.  Angola   224 

I.  Economic  and  Sociological  Background   224 

The  Country   225 

The  People   226 

European  Organizations   226 

II.   Education   231 

Government  and  Education   231 

Roman  Cathohc  Missions   235 

Protestant  Missions   235 

Baptist  Missionary  Society   236 


VIII  EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 

American  Methodist  Missionary  Society   237 

American  Congregational  Missions   239 

riymonth  Brethren  Mission   243 

South  African  General  Mission   244 

The  Swiss  Mission   244 

III.   Summary  and  Recommendations   245 

Chapter  XI.   Belgian  Congo   248 

I.   Economic  and  Sociological  Background   248 

The  Country   249 

The  People   250 

European  Organizations   253 

II.   Education   257 

Government  and  Education   258 

Roman  Catholic  Missions   263 

Protestant  Mission  Societies   268 

Baptist  Missionary  Society   271 

American  Baptist  Mission  Society   275 

Swedish  Mission   278 

Disciples  of  Christ  Congo  Mission   278 

American  Presbyterian  Mission   280 

Southern  Methodist  Mission   282 

Northern  Methodist  Mission   282 

Other  Mission  Societies   284 

III.   Summary  and  Recommendations   285 

Chapter  XII.  Liberia   290 

I.   Economic  and  Sociological  Background   290 

The  Native  People   292 

The  Americo-Liberians   295 

Economic  Possibilities   298 

The  Liberian  Government   300 

II.   Education   305 

Government  Education   306 

Protestant  Episcopal  Missions   307 

United  Lutheran  Church  Missions   309 

Methodist  Episcopal  Missions   311 

Baptist  Mission  Schools   312 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Schools   312 

Cathohc  Mission  Schools   313 

Colonization  Societies  in  the  United  States   313 

III.   Summary  and  Recommendations   315 

Index   318 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


A  Gold  Coast  Castle   4 

Simonstown  Bay,  Cape  Province   5 

Victoria  Falls   5 

In  the  Government  Botanical  Gardens,  Belgian  Congo   5 

African  Types   36 

A  Warrior  from  the  Congo   36 

Native  Girl  from  the  Katanga   36 

A  Bit  of  African  Native  Life   37 

Cloth-Weaving  on  the  Congo  River     68 

Native  Fish  Traps  at  Stanley  Falls   68 

African  Native  Rulers   69 

Native  Government  Official  and  Chiefs,  Belgian  Congo   69 

The  Emir's  Mounted  Escort,  Kano,  Northern  Nigeria   69 

The  Emir  and  His  Counsellors   69 

Paramount  Chief  at  Moyamba,  Sierra  Leone   69 

Villages  Along  the  Congo  River   100 

A  Village  on  Lake  Kisala   100 

Basoko,  an  Old  Belgian  Fortress   100 

Alberta,  with  Towering  White  Ant  Hill   100 

The  Triennial  Flooding  of  the  Lualaba  River   100 

Warriors  from  Kenya  Colony   101 

Kikuyu  Women,  Kenya  Colony   101 

An  Africa  That  Is  Passing   132 

Women  Bearing  the  Burdens   132 

A  Cannibal  Guarded  by  Native  Soldiers   132 

The  Juju  Rock,  Held  in  Awe  by  the  Natives   132 

Fetishes — Emblems  of  Cruel  Oppression   132 

Government  Preparation  of  Health  Workers,  Belgian  Congo   133 

Education  through  Industry — Natives  "Learning  by  Doing"  Under  Belgian 

Railway  Mechanics   133 

Soil  Possibilities  in  Africa   164 

Truck-Gardens  at  Mariannhill,  Natal   164 

Native  Rice  Field  and  Other  Plantings  in  the  Forest   164 

Native  Agriculture — Peanuts,  Sweet  Potatoes,  Corn   164 

Papaws,  Potatoes,  Strawberries,  Lettuce,  and  Onions   164 

Cattle  and  Sheep  in  Africa   165 

Cattle  in  Angola   165 

Plowing  at  Kamundongo   165 


X  EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 

Using  Oxen  for  Transportation   165 

Sheep  in  East  Africa   165 

Natives  Under  European  Influences   196 

Native  Non-Commissioned  Cavalry  Officers  of  Northern  Nigeria   196 

Woman  in  Native  Dress  and  Medal  Chief  in  Discarded  Uniform   196 

Teachers  and  Elders  of  Interior  Missions   196 

Native  Soldiers  at  Coomassie,  Gold  Coast   196 

Cities  and  Housing   197 

Native  Boats  at  Freetown  Waterfront   197 

Municipal  Improvement  of  Housing,  Johannesburg   197 

City  of  Kano,  Showing  Oriental  Influence  in  Central  Africa   197 

Tin  Shacks  at  Kimberley   197 

Native  African  Industries   228 

Making  Meal  at  Tsolo,  Transkeian  Territory   228 

Native  Sawing  in  Angola   228 

Basket  and  Reed  Work  at  Stanleyville  Prison   228 

Iron  Smelters  Starting  Fire  with  Primitive  Bellows  and  Friction   228 

Types  of  Central  Schools  in  Africa   229 

Training  School  of  the  Scottish  Mission,  Showing  the  Basel  Mission  Type 

of  Compound   229 

The  Central  Educational  Institution  of  the  Wesleyan  Mission,  Cape  Coast 

Castle   229 

Government  School  at  Accra   229 

Fourah  Bay  College,  Sierra  Leone   229 

Mission  Stations  and  Schools   260 

Mission  Home  at  Kimpese,  Belgian  Congo   260 

At  the  Mission  Hospital,  Bolobo  on  the  Congo   260 

Central  Building  of  the  Oyo  Training  School,  Nigeria   260 

Mission  Station  at  Old  Calabar   260 

Chief  Justice  with  Native  Barristers,  Representing  English  Legal  Training ....  261 

Government  Officials,  Mission  Workers,  and  Native  Leaders  at  Cape  Coast  Castle  261 

Schools  for  Boys  and  Young  Men   292 

A  Kindergarten  at  Yakusu   292 

Outstation  Teachers  at  Yakusu  Training  Center   292 

Machine  Shop  of  the  Government  Technical  School  at  Accra   292 

Teaching  Staff  at  School  for  Sons  of  Chiefs,  Bo,  Sierra  Leone   292 

Schools  for  Girls  and  Young  Women   292 

Girls  at  Yalemba,  with  University  Teachers  from  Australia   292 

Special  School  for  Children  of  Mixed  Parentage,  at  Kindu   292 

Home  Industries  at  St.  Hilda's  School,  Natal   292 

Native  Women  Teachers,  Still  All  Too  Few  m  Africa   292 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

Scenes  in  Liberia   292 

The  Liberia  College  Building,  Now  out  of  Repair  and  Unused   292 

A  View  of  the  St.  Paul  River,  in  the  Interior   292 

A  Market  Street,  Monrovia   292 

The  President's  Mansion,  Monrovia   292 

Native  Africans  of  Intellectual  Attainments   293 

LIST  OF  MAPS 

Africa  Frontispiece 

Itinerary  of  the  African  Education  Commission   XV 

Sierra  Leone,  British  West  Africa   99 

The  Gold  Coast,  British  West  Africa   123 

Nigeria,  British  West  Africa   147 

Population  and  Area  in  Nigeria   151 

British  South  Africa   181 

Angola,  Portuguese  West  Africa   227 

Belgian  Congo   251 

Liberia   293 


INTRODUCTION 


The  main  object  of  this  Report  is  to  give  to  all  interested  in  improving  the 
status  of  the  Natives  of  Africa  definite  data  as  to  educational  conditions  and  needs 
in  the  southern,  western,  and  equatorial  sections  of  the  continent. 

I.    Origin  of  the  Study 
The  study  owes  its  origin  to  three  groups  of  facts : 

1.  Representatives  of  various  missionary  societies  in  the  United  States  carrying 
on  work  in  Africa  have  long  felt  the  need  of  a  thorough  survey  of  conditions  there 
with  a  view  to  making  their  efforts  more  effective  on  the  educational  side.  This  wish 
first  assumed  concrete  form  in  the  proposal  of  the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society,  of  which  Dr.  James  Henry  Franklin  is  the  foreign  secretary,  that  a 
commission  should  be  appointed  to  make  a  study  of  education  in  Africa.  This  soci- 
ety came  to  the  conclusion  that  such  a  study  was  necessary  before  it  enlarged  its  own 
educational  work.  Accordingly,  the  society  requested  the  Committee  of  Reference 
and  Counsel  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America  to  take  up  its 
proposal  with  other  boards  working  in  Africa,  with  a  view  to  finding  out  if  they 
would  be  willing  to  cooperate.  The  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  approved 
the  proposal,  and  Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner,  its  secretary,  opened  negotiations  with  the 
other  boards.  A  meeting  of  their  representatives  was  held  and  the  plan  was  laid 
before  them,  with  the  result  that  they  agreed  to  recommend  to  their  several  boards 
that  such  a  study  be  undertaken,  and  that  Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones  be  asked  to 
serve  as  chairman  of  the  African  Education  Commission  to  be  appointed.  It  was  also 
agreed  that  Mr.  Turner  lay  the  matter  before  the  trustees  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund 
with  a  view  to  securing  Dr.  Jones'  services,  as  well  as  such  cooperation  in  the  work 
of  the  Commission  as  the  trustees  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund  felt  they  could  give. 

Following  this  meeting  Mr.  Turner  presented  the  matter  to  the  trustees  of  the 
Phelps-Stokes  Fund,  with  the  earnest  endorsement  of  Professor  Paul  Monroe  of 
Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  and  others. 

2.  The  trustees  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund  have  long  contemplated  attempting 
to  render  some  concrete  aid  to  the  cause  of  Native  education  in  Africa.  This  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  its  founder,  in  her  will  creating  this  trust,  specifically  referred,  among 
other  objects,  to  its  use  "for  educational  purposes  in  the  education  of  Negroes  both 
in  Africa  and  the  United  States."  As  the  most  important  work  of  the  Fund  to  date 
has  probably  been  the  preparation  of  the  two- volume  report  on  "Negro  Educa- 
tion,"* published  by  the  United  States  Government,  it  seemed  fitting  that  the  Fund 
should  apply  the  same  methods  of  study  that  had  proved  helpful  in  improving  educa- 
tional conditions  among  American  Negroes  to  the  members  of  their  race  in  Africa. 

When  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  New  York  State  in  1911,  the  trustees  were 

*Negro  Education:  A  study  of  the  Private  and  Higher  Schools  for  Colored  People  in  the  United  States, 
prepared  in  cooperation  with  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund,  under  the  direction  of  Thomas  .Jesse  Jones,  specialist 
in  Education  of  Racial  Groups.    Bureau  of  Education,  Washington,  Government  Printing  Office,  1917. 


INTRODUCTION 


XIII 


specifically  autliori/od,  in  carryiiif?  out  the  terms  of  the  will  of  the  founder,  to  use  the 
means  at  their  disposal  for  "  research  "  and  "  publication,"  as  well  as  other  enumerated 
activities. 

3.  The  end  of  the  World  War  and  the  provision  of  "mandatories"  for  backward 
peoples  under  the  League  of  Nations  drew  the  attention  of  publicists  in  Europe  and 
America  to  the  vital  importance  of  adopting  wise  educational  policies  in  Africa  that 
would  tend  to  prevent  interracial  friction,  and  to  fit  the  Natives  to  meet  the  actual 
needs  of  life. 

As  a  result  of  these  considerations  the  trustees  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund  in  Novem- 
ber, 1919,  adopted  the  following  vote: 

Voted:  Tluat  a  survey  of  educational  conditions  and  opportunities  among  the  Negroes  of  Africa,  with 
a  special  view  of  finding  the  type  or  types  of  education  best  adapted  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  Natives,  be 
undertaken  by  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund  when,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Executive  Committee — 

1.  A  sufficient  measure  of  cooperation  has  been  secured,  not  only  from  the  representative  missionary 
societies  of  this  country,  but  also  from  those  of  Great  Britain. 

2.  A  satisfactory  personnel  for  the  Commission  has  been  secured. 

3.  Sufficient  guarantees  have  been  obtained  from  the  missionary  societies  interested  to  cover  all  the 
traveling  expenses  of  the  commission. 

4.  A  satisfactory  plan  of  work  not  involving  Dr.  Jones'  absence  for  over  a  year  has  been  prepared. 

II.    Preliminary  Steps 

The  success  of  the  proposed  survey  depended  upon  its  leadership,  the  cooperation 
of  the  European  Governments  in  control  of  African  territory  and  of  European  mis- 
sionary societies  directly  concerned  with  Africa,  the  appointment  of  the  members  of 
the  proposed  commission,  and  the  determination  as  to  the  exact  field  and  scope  of  its 
investigations. 

1.  Leadership.  The  trustees  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund  were  in  agreement 
with  the  judgment  of  the  mission  boards  that  there  was  no  one  in  America  so  well 
qualified  to  assume  the  leadership  of  this  Commission  as  the  educational  director  of 
the  Fund,  Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  Ph.D.  His  birth  in  Wales  as  a  British  subject,  his 
thorough  training  in  sociology  at  Columbia  University,  his  long  experience  as  director 
of  the  research  department  of  Hampton  Institute  (the  oldest  and  probably  the  most 
successful  of  schools  for  American  Negroes), his  services  for  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment in  connection  with  the  census  of  1910  and  as  specialist  in  charge  of  racial  groups 
in  the  Bureau  of  Education,  his  study  of  conditions  among  the  various  black  troops 
in  France  during  the  war,  his  life-long  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  colored  people  in 
America,  his  sympathy  with  the  cause  of  Christian  missions,  and  his  work  in  prepar- 
ing the  two-volume  report  on  "Negro  Education" — for  which  he  was  awarded  the 
Grant  Squires  Prize  by  Columbia  University  for  "original  investigations  of  a  sociologi- 
cal character  carried  on  during  the  five  years  preceding  the  award" — were  among  his 
special  qualifications  for  this  appointment. 

2.  Cooperation.    The  active  cooperation  of  the  most  representative  missionary 


XIV 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


societies  in  the  United  States  having  been  assured  through  their  resolutions  and  through 
the  effective  efforts  of  Mr.  Turner,  to  whom  the  trustees  are  indebted  for  helpful 
suggestions  and  hearty  support  at  every  stage  in  carrying  out  the  African  study,  it 
seemed  essential  that  Dr.  Jones  should  make  a  preliminary  trip  to  Europe  for  consulta- 
tion with  colonial  officials  and  with  the  representatives  of  various  missionary  societies. 

The  trip  was  made  in  April  and  May,  1920,  and  included  visits  to  England,  Bel- 
gium, France,  and  Switzerland.  Satisfactory  relations  were  established  with  the 
officers  of  the  governments  concerned,  especially  with  the  British  and  Belgian  colonial 
officers,  who  proved  most  cooperative.  The  trip  to  Switzerland  was  concerned  with 
the  International  Red  Cross  Society,  whose  help  it  was  hoped  to  obtain.  While  the 
officers  of  this  society  were  cordial,  they  were  unable  to  render  any  direct  assistance. 
Contact  with  the  Portuguese  Government  was  established  through  Senhor  Norton  de 
Matos,  High  Commissioner  of  Angola.  This  officer  rendered  every  possible  aid. 
It  is  impossible  even  to  mention  all  the  individuals  and  organizations  in  Europe  which 
gave  valuable  assistance.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  preliminary  trip  to  Europe 
was  most  profitable  not  only  in  providing  all  kinds  of  aid  to  the  Commission,  but  even 
more  in  bringing  the  cause  of  Native  education  and  of  missions  to  the  attention  of 
governments  and  international  societies  by  methods  that  gave  new  importance  to 
these  vital  activities. 

This  cooperation  of  the  European  Governments  and  missions  was  obtained  largely 
through  the  wisdom  and  devotion  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Oldham,  secretary  of  the  International 
Missionary  Council,  Dr.  H.  Anet,  director  of  the  Belgian  Society  of  Protestant  Mis- 
sions, and  M.  Daniel  Couve  of  the  Paris  Evangelical  Mission  Society.  The  Commis- 
sion records  its  obligation  to  these  societies  for  the  valuable  international  services 
they  are  rendering.  Every  American  mission  visited  in  Africa  is  directly  or  indirectly 
indebted  to  them  and  to  their  leaders  for  sympathetic  and  statesmanlike  assistance, 

3.  The  Commission.  The  appointment  of  the  Commission  was  a  difficult  task. 
It  was  finally  decided  to  make  it  as  representative  as  possible  by  including  in  its  mem- 
bership men  and  women,  European,  African,  and  American. 

The  Commission  as  constituted  included  the  following: 

Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  Chairman. 

James  Emman  Kwegyir  Aggrey,  M.A.,  of  the  Fanti  tribe,  Gold  Coast,  West  Africa. 

Mr.  Aggrey's  father  was  linguist  of  the  Native  Kingdom,  a  position  of  responsibility  in  which  he  inter- 
preted the  government  policies  and  the  rights  of  the  people.  He  was  educated  in  the  English  Wesleyan 
Mission  School  at  Cape  Coast  Castle,  where  he  was  trained  to  be  a  teacher  and  a  minister.  When  about 
twenty  years  of  age  he  came  to  America  at  the  invitation  of  one  of  the  Bishops  of  the  American  Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Church.  He  continued  his  education  in  the  schools  of  this  denomination,  and  became  a 
professor  at  Livingstone  College,  North  Carolina,  their  leading  institution.  His  university  education  has 
been  largely  obtained  during  summer  sessions  at  Columbia  University,  where  he  is  now  completing  the  re- 
quirements for  the  doctor's  degree  in  economics  and  sociology. 

Henry  Stanley  HoUenbeck,  M.D.,  of  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  U.  S.  A. 

Dr.  HoUenbeck  graduated  from  the  University  of  Iowa  and  obtained  his  medical  degree  at  North- 
western University.  For  twelve  years  he  has  been  a  medical  missionary  of  the  American  Board  at  Angola 


THE  ITINERARY  OF  THE  AFRICAN  EDUCATION  COMMISSION 


XVI 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


where  he  had  rendered  peculiarly  effective  service,  not  only  in  health  and  hygiene,  but  in  promoting  prac- 
tical education,  especially  in  agriculture  and  animal  husbandry. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  W.  Wilkie,  of  Scotland. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilkie  are  missionaries  of  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  They  were  appointed 
by  the  Conference  of  Missionary  Societies  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  to  represent  the  British  Societies. 
Mr.  Wilkie  is  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Glasgow.  INIrs.  Wilkie  also  represents  the  best  educational 
and  religious  influences  of  Scotland.  They  have  been  successful  missionaries  in  the  Calabar  area,  where 
they  have  continued  the  well-known  work  of  Mary  Slessor.  Mr.  Wilkie's  work  in  missionary  education  is 
favorably  recognized  by  mission  boards,  government  officials,  and  representatives  of  commercial  houses. 
TMien  the  German  missionaries  withdrew  from  the  Basel  Missions  of  the  Gold  Coast,  the  British  Govern- 
ment invited  the  Scottish  Missionary  Society  to  take  over  the  work,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilkie  were  appointed 
to  take  charge  of  the  field. 

Leo  A.  Roy,  of  New  York  City,  Secretary  of  the  Commission. 

Mr.  Roy  was  well  fitted  for  the  position  of  secretary  of  the  Commission  by  his  intimate  knowledge  of 
Negro  education  in  America  and  his  training  and  experience,  both  as  accountant  and  specialist  in  industrial 
education.  During  the  war  he  was  a  government  supervisor  of  technical  training  of  colored  soldiers  in  a 
number  of  Negro  schools. 

Rev.  John  T.  Tucker  of  the  American  Board  in  Angola  was  originally  appointed 
a  member  of  the  Commission  and  did  efifective  work  in  its  organization.  The  illness 
of  his  wife  unfortunately  prevented  him  from  participating  actively  in  the  Commis- 
sion's work,  so  he  resigned  his  membership. 

4.  Scope  of  Study.  It  was  determined  that,  since  only  a  year  would  be  available 
for  the  field  investigation,  it  would  be  necessary  to  confine  it  to  western,  equatorial, 
and  southern  Africa.  The  trustees  especially  regretted  that  time  and  means  were  not 
available  to  include  the  East  Coast  in  their  survey.  Northern  Africa  was  excluded 
partly  for  the  same  reasons,  partly  because  the  dominance  of  Mohammedanism  there 
renders  the  problem  of  education  under  Christian  auspices  a  very  different  and  diflS- 
cult  one. 

The  cooperating  agencies  thus  defined  the  general  scope  and  object  of  the  Com- 
mission's work:  "To  study  the  educational  needs  of  Africa,  especially  those  pertaining 
to  the  hygienic,  economic,  social,  and  reUgious  condition  of  the  Native  people." 

To  accomplish  this  piurpose  the  Commission  was  directed  to  have  constantly  in 
mind  these  five  specific  objects: 

1.  To  inquire  as  to  the  educational  work  being  done  at  present  in  each  of  the  areas  to  be  studied. 

2.  To  investigate  the  educational  needs  of  the  people  in  the  light  of  the  religious,  social,  hygienic, 
and  economic  conditions. 

3.  To  ascertain  to  what  extent  these  needs  are  being  met. 

4.  To  assist  in  the  formulation  of  plans  designed  to  meet  the  educational  needs  of  the  Native  races, 
making  adequate  use  of  the  Native  resources  and  providing  for  the  present  and  prospective  demands  of 
the  country  itself. 

5.  To  make  available  the  full  results  of  this  study. 

An  interpretation  of  the  purpose  of  the  Commission  has  been  written  by  Dr.  C.  T. 
Loram,  the  well-known  author  of  "The  Education  of  the  South  African  Native." 


INTRODUCTION 


XVII 


In  the  opinion  of  many,  the  greatest  contribution  which  America  has  made  to  pedagogical  theory  and 
practice  has  been  its  inquiring  and  pragmatical  outlook  on  educational  institutions  and  their  products. 
Where  other  nations  arc  often  prepared  to  base  an  educational  system  on  authority  or  tradition,  the 
Americans  are  always  ready  to  investigate  systems  of  education  to  find  out  if  they  really  do  produce  the 
results  alleged,  and  if  the  results  are  in  the  best  interests  of  society.  Of  the  need  for  such  a  critical  attitude 
of  mind  and  for  periodical  investigations  into  educational  theory  and  practice,  students  of  educational 
history  are  well  aware,  for  with  no  other  section  of  the  community  do  the  idols  of  the  cave  and  of  the  market- 
place hold  greater  sway  than  with  schoolmasters,  who,  by  the  very  nature  of  their  calling  as  carried  on 
today,  are  so  apt  to  become  dogmatic  and  conservative  in  their  outlook  on  life  and  education. 

Philanthropic  and  mission  education  has  probably  suffered  more  than  other  types  of  education  from 
this  restricted  outlook  on  the  problems  of  the  day,  which  results  in  an  educational  outlook  untouched  by 
the  illuminating  studies  of  psychology,  sociology,  and  anthropology.  The  need  for  a  body  of  competent 
educators  capable  of  criticizing  constructively  the  work  of  the  well-intentioned  but  often  misdirected  mis- 
sion institutions  has  been  supplied  by  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund,  which  has  undertaken  the  highly  important 
task  of  surveying  the  educational  work  of  missions  and  philanthropic  bodies  in  America  and  elsewhere, 
and  of  making  educational  use  of  its  criticisms  through  a  wise  and  generous  publicity  and  by  affording  or 
introducing  moral  and  material  assistance  for  deserving  institutions  and  causes.  It  is  estimated  that  thou- 
sands of  pounds  are  wasted  yearly  through  the  undiscriminatLng  charity  of  philanthropists,  and  this  is  espe- 
cially the  case  with  Negro  education,  for  many  good  people  think  it  suflBcient  if  the  black  folk  have  churches 
and  schools  without  inquiring  what  kinds  of  schools  and  what  kinds  of  churches  they  have  and  ought  to 
have. 

III.   The  Commission's  Itinerary 

After  the  preliminary  trip  to  Europe  to  make  contacts  with  governments  and  vari- 
ous missionary  and  philanthropic  societies,  the  American  officers  and  members  of  the 
Commission — Messrs.  Jones,  Aggrey,  Tucker,  and  Roy — spent  a  month  in  England 
collecting  data,  seciu-ing  the  necessary  introductions,  and  getting  together  their  equip- 
ment. They  sailed  from  Liverpool  for  Africa  August  25th,  1920.  The  itinerary  they 
followed  is  given  herewith : 

Sept.  4  to  19 — Sierra  Leone 

The  Commission  traveled  inland  150  miles  by  special  trains  and  visited  the  missions  of  the  United 
Brethren,  English  societies,  and  government  schools.  The  United  Brethren  work  illustrated  the  special 
contribution  which  American  missions  can  make  to  colonies  owned  by  European  nations. 

Sept.  SO  to  Oct.  1 — Liberia 

With  headquarters  at  Monrovia,  the  Commission  traveled  inland  to  study  the  schools  and  stations  of 
the  Lutheran,  Methodist,  and  Episcopal  Churches. 

Oct.  4  to  Nov.  4 — Gold  Coast 

Traveled  inland  in  various  directions  by  trekking,  carriers,  and  automobiles  supplied  by  the  British 
Government,  distances  aggregating  almost  a  thousand  miles.  Here  the  Commission  saw  the  work  of  the 
Basel  Missions  now  supervised  and  maintained  by  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  the  work  of  the 
English  Wesleyans,  the  significant  activities  of  the  government,  and  the  remarkable  prosperity  of  the  Na- 
tives. The  welcome  given  in  Mr.  Aggrey 's  Native  village  and  school-town  was  a  feature  of  this  visit. 

Nov.  4  to  Dec,  16 — Nigeria 

The  Commission  landed  at  Lagos,  traveled  by  train  700  miles  inland  to  Kano,  the  capital  of  Moham- 
medanism in  Central  Africa;  returned  by  train  about  300  miles  to  the  Niger  River;  by  steamboat  down  the 
Niger  to  Onitsha;  by  automobiles  100  miles  to  the  Calabar  country;  by  boat  down  to  Old  Calabar.  Observed 
the  work  of  the  British  Missions  and  the  American  Baptists  of  the  South. 


XVIII 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Dec.  19  to  25 — Duala,  Cameroon 

Conferred  with  Dr.  AUegret  of  the  Paris  Evangelical  Missions,  French  Government  officials,  representa- 
tives of  missions  in  the  Cameroons,  and  especially  the  treasurer  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  prominent 
merchants,  and  Native  leaders.  Owing  to  the  infrequency  of  coast  steamers,  the  Commission  was  compelled 
to  give  up  its  plan  to  visit  the  large  and  important  work  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Church. 

Jan.  1,  19S1,  to  Jan.  25 — Lower  Congo 

Studied  typical  schools  of  the  American  and  English  Baptist  Missions,  and  Roman  Catholic  Missions 
and  general  conditions  of  the  Lower  Congo  from  Boma  to  Stanley  Pool,  a  distance  of  about  250  miles. 
Conferences  were  held  with  Belgian  officials  in  Boma,  and  with  French  officials  in  Brazzaville,  French  Congo; 
also  with  representatives  of  the  Swedish  Missions  and  Christian  Alliance.  Through  the  courtesy  of  the 
Belgian  Governor,  a  steamer  was  assigned  to  take  the  Commission  to  St.  Paul  de  Loanda,  in  Angola. 

Jan.  27  to  Feb.  2  and  March  10 — Angola 

Dr.  HoUenbeck  and  Mr.  Aggrey  remained  in  Angola  until  March  10.  Dr.  Jones  and  Mr.  Roy  proceeded 
to  South  Africa.  During  the  few  days  spent  in  Loanda,  important  facts  were  obtained  from  the  Portuguese 
officials  and  the  representatives  of  the  Methodist  missions.  Fairly  careful  observations  were  made  of  gov- 
ernment and  mission  activities  in  Loanda.  Dr.  Hollenbeck  and  Mr.  Aggrey  traveled  extensively  in  the 
country  back  of  Lobito  Bay. 

Feb.  11  to  April  1 — SoiUh  Africa 

Dr.  Jones  and  Mr.  Roy  traveled  7,000  miles  through  the  Union  of  South  Africa  and  Rhodesia.  They 
observed  the  work  of  the  British  and  American  mission  boards  and  the  government  schools. 

March  19  to  April  20  and  June  16 — South  Africa 

Dr.  Hollenbeck  and  Mr.  Aggrey  traveled  together  in  South  Africa  from  March  19  to  about  April  20, 
when  Dr.  Hollenbeck  left  for  Belgian  Congo.  Mr.  Aggrey  remained  in  South  Africa  at  the  earnest  solicita- 
tion of  missions  and  the  government  until  June  16  when  he  sailed  for  England. 

April  1  to  May  29 — Belgian  Congo 

Dr.  Jones  and  Mr.  Roy  traveled  the  whole  length  of  the  Congo  River,  a  distance  of  2,500  miles,  and 
observed  the  work  of  the  Methodist  mission  in  the  Katanga  and  numerous  missions  on  the  Congo  River. 

April  20  to  August  2 — Belgian  Congo 

Dr.  Hollenbeck  traveled  alone.  He  remained  in  the  Katanga  till  May  11,  when  he  started  the  long  trek 
of  550  miles  to  Luebo  and  then  down  the  Kasai  and  Congo  Rivers,  about  1,000  miles  to  Stanley  Pool.  On 
this  trip  he  observed  the  work  of  a  number  of  missions,  notably  the  large  Kasai  mission  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church. 

June  20  to  August  1 

The  chairman  of  the  Commission  reported  the  results  of  the  tour  to  the  governments  and  mission  boards 
of  Belgium,  France,  and  England.  Mr.  Aggrey  delivered  numerous  addresses  to  important  missionary 
groups  in  England. 

IV.    Methods  of  Study 

The  following  paragraphs  from  an  article  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Wilkie,  in  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Review,  outline  the  methods  of  study  adopted  by  the  Commission : 

For  many  months  preliminary  study  was  made,  both  in  America  and  in  Great  Britain,  and  the  friendly 
interest  of  all  governments  concerned  was  assured. 

Publications  were  carefully  collected,  so  that  there  might  be  behind  all  investigations  a  solid  phalanx  of 
facts.  Administrators,  governors,  and  commissioners,  directors  of  education,  of  medical  services,  public 
works,  agriculture,  and  of  prisons  assisted  with  unfailing  courtesy  in  the  investigation,  explaining  govern- 
mental policy  in  the  past,  and  governmental  hopes  for  the  future. 


INTRODUCTION 


XIX 


Conferences  were  held  with  chambers  of  commerce,  or  with  representatives  of  trading  corporations, 
not  only  to  obtain  the  views  of  all  sorts  of  men,  but  to  enlist  the  sympathy  of  every  section  of  the  community 
in  the  matter  of  education. 

The  Commission  came  into  intimate  relations  with  many  varying  African  groups;  the  educated  and  the 
uneducated,  the  barrister;  the  clerk,  the  preacher,  the  teacher,  the  farmer,  the  blacksmith,  and  the  fisher- 
man; the  women  and  the  girls,  in  the  homes  and  the  schools. 

I^Thc  Commission  visited  an  amazing  variety  of  schools,  in  the  towns  and  in  the  rural  districts;  schools 
good,  bad,  and  indifferent;  schools  which  rejoiced  the  heart,  and  schools  that  made  one  sad;  schools  that 
were  tragic  through  misdirected  energies,  and  a  few,  fortunately  very  few,  that  made  one  fiercely  angry 
because  of  utter  falseness.  Visits  to  individual  schools  must  often  have  seemed  to  teachers  disajjpointingly 
hasty,  but  behind  the  visits  lay  a  mass  of  hard  facts  carefully  considered.  The  Commission  endeavored, 
in  every  possible  way,  to  avoid  that  hasty  judgment  so  justly  brought  as  a  charge  against  the  traveler  in 
Africa. 

In  visiting  the  schools  and  institutions,  the  Commission  had  as  one  of  its  main  objectives  the  discovery 
of  the  educational  emphasis  in  teaching,  and  how  far  it  was  possible  to  trace  the  same  emphasis  through 
groups  of  schools  under  one  management.  For  this  purpose  it  was  not  enough  to  examine  time  tables. 
Much  as  can  be  learned  from  these,  they  do  not  indicate  the  degree  of  importance  attached  by  pupils  and 
teachers  to  the  subjects  scheduled  upon  them.  The  Commission  adopted  the  plan  of  obtaining  direct  from 
the  pupils  themselves  as  much  information  as  possible.  Many  of  the  questions  may  have  seemed  crude, 
and  some  extremely  foolish — but  there  was  method  in  the  madness.  The  children  were  asked,  for  example, 
to  name  the  subjects  taught  in  the  school.  In  the  majority  of  the  schools  on  the  Gold  Coast  and  in  Nigeria, 
English  was  named  first;  then  followed  rapidly  arithmetic  and  writing;  more  slowly,  history,  geography, 
singing,  and  drill.  In  many  schools  it  required  patience  to  discover  that  hygiene,  nature  study,  or  agriculture 
had  any  place  in  the  curriculum;  and  in  many  others,  patience  was  unavailing,  for  the  subjects  were  not 
taught.  Pupils  indicated  by  their  answers  where  educational  emphasis  lay. 

Sometimes  the  pupils  were  asked  what  they  wished  to  be  when  school-days  were  over.  The  vast  major- 
ity plumped  for  clerks.  At  the  coast  many  wanted  to  be  lawyers,  some  (but  fewer)  doctors.  Very  few  pro- 
claimed any  desire  to  be  farmers  (other  than  buyers  of  produce),  or  carpenters,  or  blacksmiths.  Asked 
for  the  occupations  of  their  fathers,  there  came  a  perfect  chorus:  "Farmers" !  WTiy  then,  this  strange  con- 
trast? Were  their  fathers  not  good  men  and  useful  to  the  community?  Could  they  continue  even  to  live 
if  every  one  became  clerks,  lawyers,  or  doctors,  and  none  grew  food? 

Or  the  pupils  were  asked  to  sing  any  song  they  pleased.  They  always  brightened  up  at  this  request, 
for  the  African  loves  singing.  The  chances  were  strong  that  we  would  hear  "The  British  Grenadiers!" 
Perhaps  there  was  a  desire  to  please  the  strangers,  but  when  they  were  asked  to  sing  an  African  song,  a  boat 
song,  or  any  chant  used  in  their  own  plays,  a  laugh  invariably  went  through  the  whole  class,  and  only  in  a 
few  instances,  even  when  we  declared  our  love  for  their  own  music,  could  they  give  us  a  single  African  chant. 
Similarly,  if  we  asked  about  history,  we  soon  discovered  what  happened  in  1066,  but  of  their  own  story — 
nothing. 

The  investigation  was  driving  the  Commission  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  the  adaptation  of  education 
to  the  needs  of  the  community,  but  more  than  a  formal  recognition  is  demanded.  Adaptation  is  universally 
approved;  far  from  universally  practised. 

V.  Results 

It  is  believed  that  the  most  important  results  of  the  Commission's  work  will  foUow 
the  publication  of  this  volume.  If  it  is  studied  in  the  same  open-minded  way  in 
which  the  Commission  has  conducted  its  investigations,  it  should  prove  useful  to  all 
interested  in  the  problems  of  developing  such  types  of  education  as  are  best  fitted 
to  meet  the  needs  of  backward  peoples.  Already,  however,  there  have  been  some  re- 
sults of  significance.   These  include  the  following: 

1.    Educational  Stimulus  and  Direction  on  the  Field.    The  following  quotations 


XX 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


from  Principal  James  IlenckM-son  of  Lo\edale,  and  from  Sir  Gordon  Guggisberg, 
Governor  of  the  Gold  Coast,  illustrate  this  type  of  influence: 

The  representatives  of  the  Education  Commission  came  here  at  a  time  when  the  strain  of  the  war  w  as 
still  being  felt  severely  and  workers  were  engrossed  with  the  problems  of  keeping  their  machines  going  at  the 
right  pace,  and  making  good  losses,  so  that  the  interest  in  their  coming  was  less  than  it  would  have  been 
at  a  normal  time,  and  the  disposition  to  consult  and  look  for  light  and  guidance  probably  also  less.  They, 
however,  achieved  results  far  beyond  our  best  expectations.  In  particular  they  were  successful  in  giving  a 
more  decided  turn  of  eilucational  effort  to  social  welfare  among  the  Native  people;  and  strengthened  thereby 
the  hands  of  those  that  have  been  working  for  a  good  many  years  back  to  obtain  modifications  in  the  courses 
of  education  so  as  to  adapt  them  to  Native  requirements,  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  peoples  emerg- 
ing from  barbarism  in  the  presence  of  a  pushful  and  in  great  part  industrial  civilization,  immersed  in  con- 
siderations of  its  own  well-being. 

Dr.  Aggrey's  visit  was  particularly  valuable  in  the  way  in  which  he  was  able  to  commend  cooperation 
between  the  white  and  black  races.  The  impulse  he  gave  to  movements  in  that  direction  has  already  done 
most  useful  work,  and  undoubtedly  has  eased  difficult  situations  in  more  places  than  one.  His  return  is 
looked  forward  to  with  cordial  satisfaction  by  all  who  desire  good  relations  between  the  two  races  in  this 
country,  and  who  are  concerned  to  see  the  Native  peoples  make  progress  morally  and  spiritually  as  well  as 
in  worldly  affairs. — Principal  Henderson. 

Their  visit  was  productive  of  great  good.  Our  educational  progress  is  proceeding  steadUy  in  the  right 
direction. — Sir  Gordon  Guggisberg. 

2.  Educational  Stimulus  and  Direction  at  Home.  There  have  been  many  prelim- 
inary reports  and  recommendations  presented  to  governments  and  church  boards. 
Possibly  the  most  formal  of  these  reports  is  the  one  presented  by  request  to  the  Belgian 
Government,  which  was  translated  by  it  into  French  and  printed  for  the  use  of 
colonial  officials.  Other  reports  have  been  submitted  to  various  mission  boards. 
Numerous  conferences  were  held  with  representatives  of  governments  and  missions  in 
England,  Belgium,  and  France;  preliminary  reports  have  been  submitted  to  various 
mission  societies  in  America;  and  conferences  have  been  held  with  their  representa- 
tives. Some  colonial  officials  have  expressed  themselves  as  believing  that  the  Com- 
mission's work  has  already  produced  important  results  in  stimulating  the  better  kinds 
of  education,  and  in  bringing  about  more  interracial  cooperation. 

3.  Visits  of  African  Educators  to  America.  The  Commission  has  encouraged  and 
aided  colonial  oflficers,  missionaries,  and  Native  students  who  desire  to  come  to  Amer- 
ica to  study  the  activities  in  the  field  of  Negro  education  of  the  General  Education 
Board,  the  Jeanes,  Slater,  and  Rosenwald  Funds,  the  leading  institutions  for  Negroes 
in  America,  county  training  schools,  the  interracial  cooperation  movement  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  United  States,  the  farm  demonstration  work  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  and  other  significant  educational  developments. 

Among  those  who  have  already  come  as  a  result  of  the  Commission's  activities 
or  who  have  sought  its  assistance  and  advice  in  planning  their  visits  are : 

From  the  Gold  Coast 

Mr.  D.  J.  Oman,  director  of  education,  and  Mrs.  Oman 

Mr.  A.  W.  Wilkie,  superintendent  of  the  Scottish  Mission  Schools,  and  Mrs. 
Wilkie 


INTRODUCTION 


XXI 


Mrs.  A.  H.  Candler,  wife  of  the  supervisor  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  work 
on  the  Coast 

Archdeacon  G.  W.  Morrison,  from  the  Church  Missionary  School  at  Coomassie 
From  Sierra  Leone 

Mrs.  Adelaide  Casely  Harford  and  Miss  Kathleen  Easmon,  interested  in  indus- 
trial education  for  the  Native  girls  of  West  Africa 

From  Nigeria 

Mr.  E.  F.  Wilkinson,  who  is  to  have  charge  of  a  training  school  for  teachers  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society 

From  Belgian  Congo 

Mr.  W.  L.  Edwards.,  of  the  Disciples  Mission  at  Bolenge 

Mr.  C.  H.  Padfield,  of  the  Bololo  Mission 

Mr.  S.  C.  Gordon,  of  the  British  Baptist  Mission  at  Matadi 

From  South  Africa 

Mr.  D.  McK.  Malcolm,  chief  inspector  of  schools  of  Natal 
Mr,  Alexander  Kerr,  principal  of  the  South  African  Native  College 
Mr.  J.  DuPlessis,  of  the  Stellenbosh  University,  a  man  influential  in  educational 
affairs  in  South  Africa 

From  Kenya  Colony 

Archdeacon  W.  E.  Owens,  in  charge  of  Church  Missionary  Society  work  in  the 
colony 

VI.    Acknowledgments  ' 

This  Report  has  been  prepared  by  Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  the  chairman  of  the 
Commission,  but  he  has  had  the  benefit  of  the  suggestions  and  criticisms  of  all  of  the 
Commission,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  of  the  mission  workers  and  government  officials 
concerned.  On  some  details  of  statement,  the  diflFerent  members  of  the  Commission 
if  responsible  for  putting  the  report  in  shape  for  the  printer,  might  have  varied  the 
emphasis  slightly  in  some  places,  but  in  their  general  conclusions  and  recommendations 
they  are  unanimous.  Furthermore,  the  members  agree  that  the  success  of  the  Com- 
mission was  very  largely  due  to  the  chairman's  tact,  wisdom,  and  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  Negro  and  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  education  and  of  interracial  adjust- 
ments. His  constant  emphasis  on  relating  education  to  the  actual  needs  of  the  peo- 
ple for  whom  it  is  intended  is  a  point  on  which  the  Commission  was  so  united  and  en- 
thusiastic that  it  will  appear  on  almost  every  page.  Dr.  Jones  is  a  great  believer  in 
"educational  adaptations"  and  it  is  this  wise  gospel  that  this  report  carries  with  so 
much  conviction. 

Each  officer  and  member  of  the  Commission  made  his  important  contribution  to 
its  conclusions — and  none  more  so  than  Mr.  Aggrey,  the  Native  of  the  Gold  Coast, 
whose  humor,  sanity,  eloquence,  knowledge  of  Native  psychology,  thorough  training 
in  education  and  sociology,  and  high  Christian  purpose,  all  proved  assets  of  great  im- 


XXII 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


portance,  especially  iti  dealing  wisely  and  constructively  with  the  complicated  prob- 
lems due  to  racial  differences. 

Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner,  the  secretary  of  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel 
in  New  York,  and  INIr.  J.  H.  Oldham,  secretary  of  the  International  Missionary  Coun- 
cil and  editor  of  the  International  Review  of  Missions,  have  been  invaluable  friends 
at  every  stage  of  the  work.  The  officers  of  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel 
have  prepared  a  statement,  which  follows  this  introduction  and  shows  the  sympathetic 
attitude  of  the  mission  boards  represented,  several  of  which  made  generous  contri- 
butions towards  the  expenses  of  the  Commission. 

Miss  Tourtellot,  the  associate  director  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund,  not  only  repre- 
sented the  Commission  in  the  United  States  during  Dr.  Jones'  absence,  but  has  col- 
laborated with  him  most  effectively  in  preparing  this  report.  Dr.  W.  Carson  Ryan, 
Jr.,  Professor  of  Education  in  Swarthmore  College,  has  also  rendered  much  assist- 
ance of  an  editorial  character. 

The  governments  of  the  British  colonies  of  the  Gold  Coast,  Nigeria,  and  Sierra 
Leone,  of  the  Belgian  Congo,  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa,  and  of  the  Republic  of 
Liberia,  extended  courtesies  and  assistance  that  were  highly  appreciated. 

In  addition  to  the  above  there  were  several  residents  of  Africa  who  traveled  exten- 
sively with  the  Commission  and  added  materially  to  its  capacity  to  understand  the 
"background"  in  each  locality,  as  well  as  providing  constructive  suggestions,  conge- 
nial society,  and  many  comforts. 

Dr.  C.  T.  Loram,  who  was  assigned  by  General  Jan  C.  Smuts,  Premier  of  the 
Union  of  South  Africa,  to  accompany  the  Commission  through  the  7,000  miles  traveled 
in  South  Africa,  was  of  the  greatest  assistance  to  the  Commission.  His  government 
position  on  the  Native  Affairs  Commission,  -his  high  standing  as  an  educator  (he  is 
a  graduate  both  in  Arts  and  Law  of  Cambridge  University) ,  and  his  breadth  of  knowl- 
edge and  point  of  view,  were  all  assets  of  importance. 

Dr.  Catherine  Mabie,  of  the  American  Baptist  Board,  represented  the  Commission 
in  Belgian  Congo  and  traveled  over  2,000  miles  with  and  in  behalf  of  the  Commission. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Emory  Ross,  of  the  Congo  Disciples  Mission,  provided  the  mission 
steamer  "Oregon"  and  the  wonderful  hospitality  of  that  mission. 

Rev.  John  T.  Tucker,  of  the  American  Board  in  Angola,  assisted  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Commission  and  now  represents  it  in  Angola. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  M.  Hursh,  of  the  United  Brethren  Board  in  Sierra  Leone,  accom- 
panied the  Commission  in  that  colony.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  M.  Richter,  of  the  same  board, 
have  rendered  much  aid. 

Dr.  John  M.  Springer,  of  Elisabethville,  Belgian  Congo,  guided  the  Commission 
through  the  Katanga. 

Dr.  E.  Allegret,  of  the  Paris  Evangelical  Society,  made  the  brief  visit  to  the  Cam- 
er oons  very  profitable  and  very  pleasant. 

Mr.  H.  F.  Worley,  General  Receiver  of  Customs  in  Liberia,  assisted  the  Commission 
during  its  visit  to  that  Republic. 

It  is  not  possible  to  give  an  adequate  expression  of  appreciation  of  the  services  of 


INTRODUCTION 


XXIII 


all  who  cooi)cratcd  with  the  Commission.  There  were  the  missionaries  of  every  nation, 
Catholic  and  Protestant,  who  extended  their  gracious  hospitality;  there  were  the 
governments  who  assisted  in  most  substantial  ways,  providing  carriers,  guides,  rest 
houses,  automobiles,  special  trains,  passenger  boats;  there  were  merchants  and  com- 
mercial organizations  that  contributed  to  the  comfort  of  the  Commission  and  facili- 
tated the  means  of  travel.  Most  of  all  is  the  Commission  indebted  to  the  Natives  of 
Africa  for  the  sincerity  of  their  welcome  and  for  the  many  comforts  they  made  possible. 
In  the  coast  cities  of  Freetown,  Monrovia,  Cape  Coast  Castle,  Accra,  and  Lagos,  the 
Africans  of  education  cooperated  to  the  extent  of  their  ability,  giving  every  possible 
assistance  in  the  interpretation  of  African  life  and  in  arranging  for  the  tour  through 
the  colony.  The  Native  rulers  received  the  Commission  with  all  hospitality,  and  pro- 
vided carriers  wherever  they  were  necessary.  At  Cape  Coast  Castle  on  the  Gold  Coast 
the  Commission  shared  the  welcome  given  to  Mr.  Aggrey,  the  African  member  of  the 
Commission  who  was  returning  to  his  home  after  twenty  years  of  separation.  The  wel- 
come was  dramatic  in  character  and  complete  in  every  respect.  A  society  of  educated 
Africans  had  provided  a  large  and  attractive  house  so  that  the  Commission  could  have 
every  comfort  of  a  home  during  their  stay  in  the  town.  The  Native  king  of  the  village 
where  Mr.  Aggrey  was  born  arranged  an  elaborate  welcome  with  impressive  Native 
ceremonies  and  gave  to  each  member  of  the  Commission  a  golden  emblem  made  by 
the  Native  goldsmiths. 

VII.  Conclusion 

I  would  specially  express,  on  behalf  of  the  trustees  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund, 
their  appreciation  of  the  thorough  work  of  the  Commission.  It  would  have  been  im- 
possible but  for  the  cooperation  of  the  governments,  missionary  societies,  and  individ- 
uals named;  and  its  results  will  be  relatively  unproductive  unless  its  recommendations 
are  received  in  the  same  generous  spirit  as  were  the  members  of  the  Commission.  Its 
purpose  is  to  help  the  Natives  of  Africa  by  encouraging  an  education  adapted  to  their 
actual  needs.  This  is  why  so  much  attention  is  devoted  to  social  and  economic  condi- 
tions, for  it  is  only  as  these  are  understood  that  subjects  of  study  and  methods  of  teach- 
ing can  be  developed  that  are  well  adapted  for  their  specific  purpose.  The  time  has 
passed  when  the  old  thesis  can  be  successfully  maintained  that  a  curriculum  well  suited 
to  the  needs  of  a  group  on  a  given  scale  of  civilization  in  one  country  is  necessarily 
the  best  for  other  groups  on  a  different  level  of  advancement  in  another  country  or 
section. 

This  was  the  natural  mistake  generally  made  by  New  England  in  dealing  with  the 
Negro  in  the  southern  states  of  America  immediately  after  emancipation.  For  the 
many  as  distinct  from  the  few,  the  results  were  small  in  comparison  with  those  that 
came  later  based  on  General  Ai^mstrong's  vital  work  at  Hampton,  where  education 
was  adapted  directly  to  a  people's  needs.  Here  there  was  real  education— the  draw- 
ing out  of  the  latent  powers  of  the  Negro,  and  fitting  him  for  the  hard  task  of  living  an 
upright,  useful,  and  economically  productive  life.  Agricultural  or  industrial  training, 
under  Christian  auspices,  proved  to  be  the  best  type  of  education  for  the  majority  of 
the  freedmen,  at  this  particular  time  in  their  development,  although  the  door  was 


XXIV 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


and  always  should  be  kept  wide  open  for  a  higher  education  through  some  institutions 
specially  intended  for  those  men  and  women  of  the  black  race  who  have  the  ability 
and  the  character  to  profit  by  the  training  of  the  academic  college,  and  by  some  pro- 
fessional school  course.  Experience  shows  that  those  who  can  profit  by  such  advanced 
work  are  in  the  small  minority  among  white  people,  and  they  will  doubtless  con- 
tinue, at  least  during  our  generation,  to  be  in  an  even  smaller  minority  among  black 
people.  That  Native  Africans  have,  however,  in  many  cases,  latent  capacities  for  large 
intellectual  development  and  social  service  is  shown  by  the  achievements  of  some  of 
their  own  men.  Mr.  Aggrey,  of  the  Commission,  and  Dr.  Moton  of  Tuskegee,  who 
has  been  one  of  its  staunchest  supporters  form  the  first,  are  proofs  of  the  truth  of  this 
view.  Neither  has  a  drop  of  white  blood  in  his  veins.  The  late  Booker  T.  Washing- 
ton, the  founder  of  Tuskegee  Institute,  who  was  deeply  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
the  black  man  both  in  Africa  and  America,  is  the  greatest  witness  to  the  Negro's 
potentiality. 

The  Report  is  specially  commended  to  the  attention  of  colonial  ofiicials  and  mis- 
sionaries. Some  of  the  former  may  complain  that  there  is  too  much  praise  in  it  for 
"Foreign  Missions" — an  inadequate  term  for  the  activities  of  those  who  sacrifice  much 
to  live  in  distant  and  at  times  unhealthy  places  in  order  that  they  may  bring  the  sim- 
ple message  of  the  Christian  religion  and  the  Christian  life  to  other  people.  The  fact 
that  in  the  overwhelming  majority  of  cases  they  are  the  advance  agents  of  civilization 
is  suflBcient  answer  to  this  criticism.  Some  of  the  latter  may  complain  that  there  is  too 
little  about  religion  in  the  Report.  To  such  our  answer  is  that  the  Report  is  one  of 
an  "Education  Commission"  and  that  consequently  it  deals  with  religion  as  a  factor 
in  the  actual  development  of  man  and  of  society.  The  Commission  is  deeply  sympa- 
thetic with  all  missions  that  "give  life  and  give  it  more  abundantly"  to  the  Natives. 
All  of  its  members  are  convinced  that  the  religion  of  Christ  is  vital  to  Africa  and  that 
missionary  education  must  continue  to  be  of  a  distinctly  Christian  character.  They 
can  see  no  hopeful  future  for  Africa  unless  the  forces  of  Christian  education  are 
greatly  strengthened. 

The  Report  is  oflFered  to  these  and  other  groups  of  interested  persons — such  as  stu- 
dents of  education  and  of  missions — in  the  hope  that  its  accurate  information,  definite 
recommendations,  and  cooperative  spirit  may  aid  somewhat  the  great  movement  con- 
scientiously directed  towards  human  improvement  through  education.  The  object 
aimed  at  is  so  important  that  it  is  earnestly  hoped  the  reader  may  reserve  judgment 
as  to  the  various  recommendations  until  the  evidence  presented  by  all  the  chapters 
has  been  carefully  studied.  If  the  Report  helps,  by  giving  a  right  approach  to  the  prob- 
lems of  race  adjustments,  to  bridge  the  gaps  between  white  and  black;  between  the 
American  Negro  and  his  distant  African  cousins;  between  European  civilization 
and  African  civilization;  between  educational  theory  and  educational  practice; 
between  Christian  faith  and  Christian  works;  between  Protestant  and  Catholic;  be- 
tween missionary  and  government  official;  between  commercial  and  philanthropic 
interests;  between  the  man  on  the  field  and  his  representatives  at  home;  between  con- 
servative and  liberal,  it  will  have  not  been  in  vain.    For  thereby  it  will  aid  in  the 


INTRODUCTION 


XXV 


redomplioii  of  Africn — a  great  continent  with  a  people  of  large  possibilities.  Towards 
such  a  consiininiation  every  contribution  of  honest  thought  and  effort — no  matter  how 
small — is  worth  while. 

Signed : 

100  William  Street  Anson  Phelps  Stokes, 

New  York  City  Chairman  of  the  Educational 

U.  S.  A.  Committee  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Trustees 


FOREWORD 


As  set  forth  in  the  Introduction  (page  xii),  the  suggestion  that  an  Education 
Commission  be  appointed  to  make  a  first-hand  study  of  education  in  Africa  on  behalf  of 
the  mission  boards  originated  with  the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 
The  proposal,  having  been  approved  by  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel 
of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America,  was  laid  before  the  boards 
conducting  w^ork  in  Africa.  At  several  meetings  of  the  representatives  of  these  boards 
the  proposal  was  considered  most  carefully,  and  the  decision  was  reached  that  the  study 
should  be  undertaken,  that  Dr.  Jones  should  be  invited  to  serve  as  chairman  of  the 
Commission,  and  that  the  Trustees  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund  should  be  asked  to 
release  Dr.  Jones  for  this  service  and  to  cooperate  in  conducting  the  study.  The 
Trustees  not  only  granted  leave  of  absence  to  Dr.  Jones  for  this  purpose  but  also 
contributed  generously  toward  the  expenses. 

The  following  boards  cooperated  in  making  the  work  of  the  Commission  possible; 

American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society 

Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society 

Christian  Woman's  Board  of  Missions 

American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions 

Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 

Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Presbyterian  Church  in  U.  S.  A. 

Board  of  Missions  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South 

Executive  Committee  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  U.  S.  A. 

Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ 

The  plans  for  the  work  of  the  Commission  (see  page  xvi),  were  worked  out  by  a 
committee  made  up  of  the  following  representatives  of  the  agencies  cooperating: 

Dr.  A.  W.  Halsey,  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  who  served 
as  chairman. 

Dr.  James  H.  Franklin,  of  the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society. 
Prof.  Paul  Monroe,  of  the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society. 

Dr.  John  W.  Wood,  of  the  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  U.  S.  A. 

Dr.  Frank  Mason  North,  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Rev.  R.  L.  Embree,  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ. 
Dr.  Frederick  P.  Lynch,  a  medical  missionary  of  the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society  in  the  Congo. 
Rev.  Edward  Lincoln  Smith,  D.D.,  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 
Mr.  J.  H.  Oldham,  representing  the  Conference  of  Missionary  Societies  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 
Mr.  F.  P.  Turner,  representing  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference 
of  North  America. 

Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  Chairman  of  the  African  Education  Commission  and  Educational  Director  of  the 
Phelps-Stokes  Fund. 

After  about  a  year  in  Africa,  the  Commission  returned  to  the  United  States  in 
September,  1921.   Since  that  time  Dr.  Jones,  with  the  assistance  of  other  members 


FOREWORD 


xxvu 


of  the  Commission,  has  devoted  practically  all  his  time  to  the  preparation  of  the  report 
of  the  Commission. 

In  this  study  the  Commission  has  taken  into  consideration  all  the  forces  that  are 
at  work  in  the  field  of  education  in  Africa.  The  educational  work  of  our  mission 
boards  cannot  be  studied  apart  from  what  is  being  done  by  other  agencies.  This  is 
preeminently  true  of  the  educational  work  carried  on  by  governments.  As  the  years 
go  by,  the  governments  of  Africa  will  necessarily  play  an  increasingly  large  part  in 
the  educational  program  of  the  several  African  communities.  The  problem  is  large 
and  difficult.  The  mission  boards  cannot  occupy  the  whole  field.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  mission  boards  have  a  large  and  greatly  needed  contribution  to  make  to  educa- 
tion. To  fulfill  this  I'esponsibility,  mission  schools  must  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the 
African  people  and  they  should  be  the  very  best  of  their  type. 

The  Commission  assumes  that  Christian  education  has  to  do  with  the  whole  of  life 
and  the  environment  in  which  human  beings  are  to  live;  also  that  the  program  of  edu- 
cation which  the  Christian  forces  carry  out  must  aim  to  teach  the  individual  how  to 
play  his  part  in  the  community  as  a  citizen  and  as  an  economic  factor  no  less  than  as  a 
church  member.  The  church  in  the  mission  field  cannot  be  put  on  a  self-governing, 
self-supporting,  and  self-propagating  basis  unless  Christians  are  able  to  support  them- 
selves. The  Christian  congregations  which  the  mission  boards  seek  to  estabhsh  must 
be  made  up  of  individual  Christians  who  are  self-supporting,  economic  factors  equipped 
in  the  essentials  of  community  life.  Unless  this  be  true,  there  is  no  possibiUty  of  creat- 
ing and  developing  an  indigenous  church,  able  to  stand  alone  and  to  meet  adequately 
its  own  responsibilities.  The  conception  of  education  which  the  Commission  sets  before 
us  has  this  as  its  objective.  Therefore,  emphasis  is  laid  on  all  those  factors  which  enter 
into  the  life  of  each  individual,  namely,  health,  personal  habits,  training  for  life-work, 
citizenship,  culture,  and  Christian  character.  Even  in  schools  of  our  highly  civilized 
Christian  communities,  these  principles  are  often  lost  sight  of,  but  in  many  communi- 
ties we  are  slowly  awakening  to  the  necessity  of  giving  attention  to  them. 

The  study  has  been  influenced  by  the  principles  of  education  which  Samuel  Chap- 
man Armstrong  developed  at  Hampton  and  Booker  T.  Washington  and  Principal 
Moton  at  Tuskegee,  not  to  mention  many  other  institutions  where  these  are  being 
carried  into  practice.  It  may  be  worth  while  here  to  direct  attention  to  the  fact  that 
these  educational  ideals  were  conceived  and  theii-  value  demonstrated  by  the  Rev. 
Richard  Armstrong,  the  father  of  Armstrong  of  Hampton,  in  his  work  as  a  missionary 
of  the  American  Board  in  Hawaii.  In  this  respect  the  Report  is  unique,  for  it  attempts 
to  show  how  the  principles  which  originated  in  the  Hawaiian  mission  field,  and  were 
developed  to  a  high  state  of  efficiency  in  the  United  States  among  the  Negro  peoples, 
may  now  best  be  applied  to  the  educational  work  in  Africa. 

With  the  publication  of  the  Report,  the  recommendations  made  by  the  Commis- 
sion are  available  for  the  agencies  responsible  for  determining  educational  policies 
for  the  people  of  those  regions  of  Africa  under  consideration.  The  mission  boards 
have  not  adopted  the  recommendations.  However,  in  formulating  policies  for  their 


XXVIII 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


educational  work,  they  will  have  available  the  results  of  the  first-hand  studies  of  an 
able  and  experienced  group  of  experts  whose  conclusions  will  be  of  very  great  value. 

It  is  our  hope  that  this  study  may  become  a  textbook  for  missionary  candidates 
and  missionaries  working  in  fields  other  than  Africa.  The  principles  set  forth  may  be 
applied  in  any  other  field  and  it  will  be  a  great  day  for  missionary  education  when  the 
conception  of  adaptation  in  education  is  understood  and  put  into  practice  every- 
where, for  these  principles  are  imiversal  in  application. 

The  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel,  on  behalf  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Conference  of  North  America,  would  here  record  their  deep  appreciation  of  the  work 
of  Dr.  Jones,  the  chairman  of  the  Commission  and  of  all  the  members  of  the  Commis- 
sion. These  unselfish  workers  have  put  all  mission  boards  and  societies  under  deepest 
obligation  to  them  for  a  study  which  will  be  far-reaching  in  its  influence  on  missionary 
education,  and  which  will  also  result  in  a  wiser  use  of  funds  set  apart  for  the  support 
of  educational  missions. 

We  would  also  thank  the  foreign  mission  boards  which  cooperated  in  making  this 
work  possible.  One  is  impressed  with  the  vision  and  statesmanship  of  these  leaders 
of  the  mission  boards  and  also  with  their  earnest  desire  to  take  advantage  of  every 
opportunity  to  improve  the  quality  of  the  work  done  in  their  missions. 

We  desire  to  extend  our  thanks  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund  for  the 
liberal  support  of  the  Commission  and  for  the  valuable  counsel  given  by  Dr.  Anson 
Phelps  Stokes,  the  Secretary  of  the  Fund  and  the  Chairman  of  the  Fund's  Committee 
on  Education.  Appropriations  have  been  made,  not  only  for  the  Commission  and  the 
publication  of  the  report,  but  also  for  the  traveling  expenses  of  numerous  missionaries 
from  Europe,  Africa,  and  America  to  enable  them  to  observe  the  educational  institu- 
tions of  the  Negroes  in  the  United  States. 

William  I.  Chamberlain,  Chairman 

Fennell  p.  Turner,  Secretary 

Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  of  the 
Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America 


Chapter  I 


AFRICA  AND  EDUCATION 

Africa  is  not  the  "Great  Dark  Continent,"  but  the  "Continent  of  Great  Mis- 
understandings." The  popular  presentation  of  Africa  has  been  too  frequently  in  the 
form  of  journalistic  accounts  of  "Darkest  Africa."  What  a  difference  between  the 
news  stories  of  a  Stanley,  and  the  interpretations  of  a  Livingstone !  Stanley,  a  vigor- 
ous administrator,  a  rushing  explorer,  compelled  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  a  reading 
world  by  dramatic  accounts  of  a  wild  country  and  a  savage  people.  Livingstone,  an 
observing  scientist,  a  patient  explorer,  a  missionary,  eager  to  know  the  country  and 
the  people.  How  different  would  be  the  present  conceptions  of  Africa  if  the  continent 
had  been  more  largely  interpreted  to  the  world  by  the  sympathetic  Livingstone  rather 
than  by  the  brilliant  and  journalistic  Stanley.  African  travelers  seem  still  to  be  con- 
trolled by  the  desire  to  exploit  the  thrills  of  wild  life  on  the  "Last  Frontier"  rather  than 
to  describe  the  realities  of  economic  resources,  the  inspiring  scenery,  and  the  human 
possibilities. 

The  persistence  and  prevalence  of  the  consequent  misunderstandings  not  only  in 
America,  but  also  in  Europe,  have  retarded  and  often  defeated  efforts  for  the  devel- 
opment of  Africa.  So  long  as  the  present  misconceptions  continue,  it  is  not  strange 
that  education  in  Africa  should  be  regarded  as  futile,  and  a  "Report  on  Education 
in  Africa"  should  be  deemed  of  little  importance.  A  correct  appreciation  of  Africa 
and  the  Africans  is  emphatically  essential  not  only  to  the  success  of  educational  and 
religious  endeavors,  but  also  to  the  maintenance  and  extension  of  governmental  and 
commercial  organizations. 

Of  the  many  misconceptions  that  still  tend  to  limit  the  investment  of  capital  in 
African  industry  and  agriculture,  to  hamper  the  efforts  of  colonial  governments,  and 
discourage  the  support  of  missions,  there  are  four  of  such  importance  as  to  require 
consideration  in  any  effort  to  evaluate  the  educational  possibilities.  The  first  of  these 
misunderstandings  relates  to  the  wealth  of  resources  and  natural  scenery;  the  second 
is  concerned  with  the  healthfulness  of  the  continent  and  the  promising  possibilities  of 
sanitary  improvement;  the  third  has  to  do  with  the  improvability  of  the  African  peo- 
ple; the  fourth  with  European  and  American  influences.  Every  colony  visited  offered 
convincing  evidences  of  the  injustice  of  current  misconceptions  on  these  important 
matters. 

Wealth  of  Resources  and  Natural  Beauty 

The  immense  and  varied  physical  resources  of  Africa  are  practically  unknown  to 
the  civilized  world.  Those  who  have  any  appreciation  of  Africa's  great  wealth  are 
limited  to  a  small  number  of  government  oflBcers,  representatives  of  commercial  con- 
cerns, scientific  observers,  and  missionaries.  As  the  researches  hitherto  made  have  been 
for  private  or  governmental  use,  the  published  results  are  meager.  It  is  not  possible 
to  give  statistical  measures  of  the  extent  of  the  resources,  but  even  on  the  basis  of  the 


2 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


very  limited  information  available  there  is  sufficient  evidence  of  potential  wealth  to 
convince  the  most  skeptical  that  Africa  is  the  imdeveloped  treasure-house  of  the  world. 

There  are  the  diamond  fields  of  Kimberley,  the  gold  ridge  of  Johannesburg,  the 
coal  mines  of  Rhodesia,  the  Katanga  copper  plateaus  of  Belgian  Congo,  and  the  oil 
areas  of  Angola.  Every  colony  has  some  of  the  precious  metals  in  forms  and  quantities 
profitable  for  industry  and  commerce.  A  number  of  colonies  have  immense  quantities 
of  water  power,  notably  Angola,  Liberia,  and  parts  of  Belgian  Congo. 

The  forest  and  agricultural  possibilities  of  Africa  have  scarcely  been  touched.  The 
forests  include  large  quantities  of  lumber  which  could  be  made  into  articles  of  commer- 
cial value  or  shipped  to  other  countries  for  manufacture.  No  more  valuable  or  varied 
timber  lands  are  to  be  found  than  the  vast  forest  areas  of  Central  Africa,  rich  in  both 
dye  woods  and  cabinet  woods.  There  are  extensive  valleys,  plains,  and  plateaus  pro- 
ducing a  variety  of  vegetables,  grains,  and  fruits,  and  capable  of  much  larger  production 
under  proper  cultivation.  South  Africa  produces  tons  of  wheat,  maize,  Kaffir  corn, 
potatoes,  oats,  barley,  and  tobacco,  and  great  quantities  of  fruits,  including  grapes, 
peaches,  pears,  melons,  and  other  products.  In  Angola  there  are  coffee,  sugar,  cocoa- 
nuts,  vegetable  oils,  maize,  yams,  tomatoes,  peanuts,  melons,  oranges,  lemons,  limes, 
pineapples,  bananas,  peppers,  and  tobacco.  The  extensive  plateaus  of  the  colony  com- 
bine qualities  of  both  the  tropical  and  temperate  zones,  producing  grain,  vegetables, 
and  fruits  of  great  variety  and  excellent  quality.  West  Africa  is  known  for  its  immense 
production  of  palm  oil,  cocoa,  and  rubber.  The  areas  devoted  to  cotton  are  increasing 
with  great  rapidity,  and  promise  to  rival  the  great  cotton-producing  sections  of  the 
world. 

Many  sections  of  Africa  are  rich  in  animal  life,  both  domestic  and  wild.  Knowledge 
of  the  simplest  principles  of  animal  husbandry,  with  the  control  or  elimination  of  pre- 
ventable animal  diseases,  would  place  large  areas  of  Africa  among  the  great  animal-pro- 
ducing sections  of  the  world.  Goats,  sheep,  hogs,  and  chickens  may  be  found  in  almost 
every  part  of  the  continent.  On  the  extensive  plateaus  of  Africa,  even  in  the  tropical 
regions,  cattle  are  raised  in  considerable  number.  It  is  said  that  the  northeastern 
section  of  Belgian  Congo  contains  some  of  the  best  cattle  districts  in  the  world.  In 
South  Africa  there  are  horses,  mules,  donkeys,  and  ostrich  farms  of  large  extent. 

In  this  brief  compass,  only  a  hint  can  be  given  of  the  great  resources  of  Africa. 
As  exploration  and  research  proceed  in  the  continent  the  world  will  be  surprised  by  the 
definite  and  convincing  evidences  of  minerals,  waterpower,  agricultural  products, 
and  animal  life.  In  an  interesting  book  entitled,  "The  Backbone  of  Africa,"  Sir 
Alfred  Sharp  describes  his  tour  of  the  wonderful  plateaus  that  extend  the  whole  length 
of  eastern  Africa  from  the  Cape  to  Cairo.  The  following  quotations  illustrate  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  country: 

The  Zambezi  Sugar  Company's  mill  at  Chimbwe,  which  is  situated  close  to  VUla  Fontes — an  adminis- 
trative center  on  the  Zambezi — turns  out  eight  to  ten  thousand  tons  of  sugar  in  the  year.  The  same  company 
has  another  mill  at  Mopea,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  twelve  miles  lower  down;  and  a  third  at  Maromeu, 
on  the  right  bank,  nearer  to  Chinde.  They  employ  eighty  Europeans  and  four  thousand  Natives;  whilst 
their  mills,  especially  at  Chimbwe,  are  quite  up  to  date.  The  sugar  is  transported  in  barges  to  Chinde,  and 
thence  by  sea  to  Beira  and  Europe. 


AFRICA  AND  EDUCATION 


3 


The  cotton  grown  in  the  highlands  of  the  protectorate  is  an  improved  variety  of  "American  Upland"; 
and  in  tlie  home  market,  it  fetches  about  twopence  a  pound  more  than  "  Middling  American."  At  anything 
like  normal  prices,  Nyasaland  cotton  gives  very  fair  profits.  The  planters  are  doing  well,  accordingly.  Most 
of  those  who  first  took  up  land  were  men  with  small  capital,  thus  being  dependent  in  some  measure  on  the 
early  success  of  their  ventures.  Capital  still  is  required;  and  its  investment  in  the  protectorate  may  be 
regarded  as  good  and  sound. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  developments  of  cotton  planting  in  Nyasaland  has  been  the  participation  of 
Natives  in  the  industry.  This  somewhat  unusual  cooperation  opens  up  wider  possibilities  in  the  direction  of 
large  exports  than  cultivation  by  Europeans  alone,  since,  if  every  Native  who  lives  in  a  country  suitable  for 
the  growth  of  cotton  puts  in  a  patch  of  an  acre  round  his  hut,  the  total  output  would  be  immeasurably 
increased. 

The  so-called  "  Kilo"  goldfield  was  discovered  some  ten  years  ago,  and  has  been  worked  for  several  years 
by  the  Congo  Administration  as  a  government  monopoly.  The  field  consists  of  rich  alluvial  deposits,  lying 
mostly  on  a  bed-rock  of  diorite;  and  nearly  every  stream  contains  gold.  The  metal,  apparently,  comes  from 
a  bluish  quartz;  and  the  gold  ordinarily  got,  by  sluicing,  is  fairly  coarse.  Nuggets  up  to  eight  pounds  in 
weight  have  been  found;  I,  myself,  was  shown  several  weighing  three,  four,  and  five  pounds.  The  gold  is 
widely  distributed  over  a  country  consisting  of  broken  hills  and  valleys,  and  there  is  a  plentiful  supply  of  both 
water  and  timber.  When  I  was  at  Kilo,  government  employed  some  two  thousand  five  hundred  Natives  on 
gold-washing  alone;  and  there  are  a  number  of  other  centers  to  the  north;  it  is,  in  fact,  apparent  that  the 
whole  Congo  territory  east  of  the  twenty-eighth  meridian  is  a  mineralized  area.  The  alluvial  deposits  are  so 
easily  worked,  besides  being  generally  rich,  that  this  essentially  is  a  country  for  initial  development  by 
individual  enterprise,  single  miners,  and  small  concerns.  It  is  doubtful  whether  even  the  Australian  and 
Californian  alluvial  deposits  were  richer  than  some  of  those  in  the  northeastern  Congo. 

The  beauty  of  African  scenery  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the  usual  conception  of 
Africa  as  a  land  of  dismal  swamps,  impenetrable  jungles,  and  arid  deserts.  The  trav- 
eler along  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  has  many  surprises.  Instead  of  the  sandy  shores 
and  low-lying  swamps  that  one  is  led  to  expect,  Freetown  Harbor  is  delightfully  en- 
closed by  extensions  of  highlands.  The  old  city  nestles  on  the  shore  at  the  foot  of  the 
high  mountain,  its  streets  arranged  along  the  ascending  ground  leading  to  the  mountain- 
ous heights  which  form  a  setting  for  the  churches,  stores,  and  government  houses.  Fur- 
ther south,  Liberia  appears  with  hills  and  highlands,  but  rarely,  if  ever,  a  marshy  shore. 
Along  the  Gold  Coast  there  are  wonderful  old  castles  built  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries  and  rivaling  similar  structures  in  Europe.  Passing  by  the  stretches 
of  marshy  coast  and  watery  jungles  of  the  Niger  Delta,  there  appears  the  great  height 
of  the  Victoria  Peak,  rising  abruptly  from  the  ocean,  its  sides  decorated  with  green 
trees  and  swift-flowing  streams.  The  mountains  and  plateaus  of  Angola,  skirting  the 
ocean  for  hundreds  of  miles,  reflect  the  wealth  of  resources  and  agreeable  climate  of 
that  great  colony.  Thus  is  the  traveler  impressed  by  a  pleasing  variety  of  scenery 
until  the  tour  of  the  West  Coast  ends  with  the  wonderful  panorama  of  Cape  Town. 
From  the  ship,  surrounded  by  the  colorful  azure-blue  waters  of  the  Southern  Ocean, 
the  traveler  looks  upon  the  fantastic  forms  of  the  rugged  mountains  which  are  as  stage- 
scenery  for  the  beautiful  city,  long  known  as  the  "tavern  of  the  southern  seas." 

While  Africa  has,  like  other  continents,  gloomy,  uninteresting,  and  even  dangerous 
sections,  its  characteristic  scenery  is  beautiful  and  inspiring.  Mountains,  valleys, 
plateaus,  and  plains,  with  graceful  rivers  and  majestic  lakes  combine  in  picturesque 
effects  that  command  the  admiration  and  the  devotion  of  all  who  have  an  opportunity 
really  to  know  Africa.   The  world  has  heard  of  the  Victoria  Falls,  in  many  respects 


4 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


surpassing  the  American  Niagara;  the  famous  lakes  of  Victoria  Nyanza,  Tanganyika 
and  Nyasa,  inland  seas  rivaling  those  of  any  other  continent ;  the  river  systems  of  the 
Congo,  the  Niger,  the  Zambesi,  and  the  Nile  penetrating  thousands  of  miles  into  the 
interior;  mountain  ranges  and  peaks  that  overawe  the  traveler  v^^ith  their  rugged 
strength  and  the  beauty  of  their  colors  and  contours;  and  plateaus,  probably  the  most 
extensive  of  all  the  continents,  changing  even  the  tropical  heats  into  temperate  climates 
for  areas  surpassing  in  extent  many  of  the  countries  of  Europe. 

Healthfulness  of  Africa 

Possibly  the  most  general  and  persistent  misunderstanding  of  Africa  is  the  belief 
that  most  of  the  continent  is  dangerous  to  health  and  life.  The  conception  of  the  West 
Coast  as  "the  white  man's  grave"  seems  to  prevail  in  every  part  of  the  world.  While 
it  is  true  that  there  are  parts  of  Africa  unsafe  to  people  of  the  temperate  zones  and  un- 
healthy for  Natives  of  Africa,  it  is  certain  that  the  dangers  have  been  very  greatly 
exaggerated.  Africa's  reputation  for  unhealthfulness  was  the  result  of  the  tragic 
experience  of  those  who  entered  the  continent  without  knowledge  of  the  conditions  or 
indifferent  to  the  hardships  always  attending  the  entrance  of  pioneers  into  a  new  coun- 
try. The  early  settlers  of  North  America  similarly  paid  the  price  of  appaUing  death 
rates  from  climate,  lack  of  food,  and  conflict  with  Natives.  The  tragic  experiences  of 
African  missionaries  in  the  early  years  are  almost  all  traceable  to  a  few  diseases,  prac- 
tically all  of  which  are  now  preventable  by  comparatively  simple  precautions.  The 
elimination  or  control  of  mosquitoes  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  has  brought  down  the 
death  rate  of  the  white  people  to  that  of  normal  groups  in  Europe  and  America.  The 
unfortunate  reputation  of  the  coast  regions  of  Africa  was  emphasized  by  the  reckless- 
ness of  selfish  adventurers  who  indulged  in  excessive  drinking  and  other  vices  usually 
attending  the  contacts  with  primitive  peoples  and  unknown  conditions.  A  fair  com- 
parison of  Africa  with  other  parts  of  the  world  will  undoubtedly  show  that  Africa  will 
respond  to  modern  methods  of  sanitation  and  hygiene  in  exactly  the  same  way  as 
continents  of  similar  chmatic,  economic,  and  social  conditions. 

The  evaluation  of  the  healthfulness  of  Africa  requires  the  differentiation  of  the 
extensive  plateaus  sufiiciently  high  and  well  drained  to  assure  favorable  climatic 
conditions,  even  in  torrid  regions,  from  the  low-lying  areas  of  the  tropical  zones  where 
the  disease-laden  mosquito  and  tsetse  fly  are  still  a  menace  to  Natives  and  foreigners 
who  are  unable  to  establish  the  well-known  precautions  of  modern  hygiene  and  sanita- 
tion. Even  a  casual  examination  of  the  topography  of  Africa  shows  a  surprisingly  large 
proportion  of  the  continent  to  consist  of  plateaus  where  the  temperature  is  practically 
that  of  the  temperate  zone.  British  South  Africa,  one-half  the  area  of  the  United 
States,  is  almost  entirely  in  the  south  temperate  zone.  Angola,  almost  a  half  million 
square  miles,  includes  large  plateau  areas  with  a  climate  both  healthful  and  delightful. 
All  the  West  Coast  colonies  have  some  high  sections  where  the  tropical  heat  is  favorably 
modified.  The  Congo  River  Basin  is  surrounded  by  extended  plateaus  where  people 
of  temperate  zones  may  live  in  comfort.  Even  the  Congo  Basin  has  an  average  altitude 
of  1,000  feet.   The  eastern  third  of  Africa  from  the  Cape  to  Cairo  is  very  largely  a 


AFRICA  AND  EDUCATION 


plateau  region  whose  climate  is  favorable  alike  to  Native  Africans  and  people  from  the 
temperate  zone. 

Even  in  the  lower  levels,  where  mosquitoes  and  tsetse  flies  have  been  a  menace  to 
health  and  Hfe,  missionaries,  merchants,  and  government  officials  are  living  with  con- 
siderable safety  and  comfort.  Members  of  the  Education  Commission  were  repeatedly 
impressed  by  the  sight  of  Europeans  and  Americans  who  have  lived  in  these  regions 
for  many  years.  In  one  American  mission  station,  just  where  the  Congo  River  crosses 
the  Equator,  the  Commission  saw  four  American  families  with  seven  children,  all  in 
good  health.  In  another  station  on  the  Lower  Congo  there  were  two  American  mission- 
aries and  their  wives  who  have  served  an  average  of  forty  years  in  that  region,  notorious 
for  maliiria  and  sleeping  sickness.  Nearby  was  also  a  station  of  Jesuit  Fathers  and 
Brothers  who  had  lived  in  the  region  for  over  twenty-five  years,  and  who  had  elimi- 
nated both  sleeping  sickness  andmalaria  so  that  they  could  live  with  safety  and  comfort 
and  maintain  a  large  herd  of  cattle — though  cattle  are  even  more  sensitive  to  sleeping 
sickness  than  human  beings.  The  health  experience  of  the  Education  Commission 
is  most  reassuring  to  travelers  in  Africa.  This  party  of  Americans  and  Europeans  with 
one  Native  African  traveled  twenty -five  thousand  miles  for  ten  months  in  coast  and 
interior  regions  of  Africa,  absolutely  without  illness  from  any  African  cause.  The  only 
precautions  required  were  helmets  in  the  tropics,  daily  quinine  in  malarial  regions,  and 
boiled  drinking  water  where  the  supply  was  not  supervised.  Under  the  energetic  and 
scientific  ministrations  of  British  medical  officers,  malaria  and  yellow  fever  are  success- 
fully controlled  in  large  sections  of  the  British  colonies  of  the  West  Coast.  It  is  in- 
creasingly the  conviction  of  thoughtful  students  of  African  conditions  that  the  active 
cooperation  of  government,  business,  and  missions  in  health  campaigns  and  improve- 
ments can  not  only  control  the  preventable  diseases,  but,  in  the  course  of  time,  elimi- 
nate these  diseases  from  almost  all  of  the  areas  where  they  are  now  a  menace. 

Improvabilitt  of  the  African  People 

The  most  unfortunate  and  unfair  of  all  the  misunderstandings  is  to  the  effect  that 
the  African  people  do  not  give  promise  of  development  sufficient  to  warrant  efforts  in 
their  behalf.  The  endeavor  to  prove  the  inferiority  or  the  equality  of  Africans  in  com- 
parison with  other  peoples  of  the  world  is  of  little  value  in  determining  poUcies  con- 
cerned with  their  development.  Biological  and  other  researches  may  show  the  differ- 
entiation of  social  groups,  both  within  and  without  Africa,  but  their  results  can  never 
be  fairly  used  to  justify  the  denial  of  educational  or  other  opportunities  to  any  group. 
The  present  distribution  of  the  African  groups  through  the  various  stages  of  human 
society,  whether  that  stage  be  cannibalistic,  barbaric,  primitive,  or  civihzed,  is  a  natural 
condition  that  has  been  almost  completely  duplicated  at  some  time  with  all  civilized 
races.  In  the  long  processes  of  evolution,  it  is  well  known  that  the  civilization  period 
of  the  most  advanced  races  has  been  but  brief  in  comparison  with  their  long  period 
of  barbarism. 

The  improvability  of  the  African  people  is  clearly  shown  by  their  response  to  the 
efforts  of  missions,  governments,  and  commercial  organizations,    Africans  occupy 


/ 


6 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


positions  of  importance  in  every  colony  visited.  There  are  physicians,  lawyers,  and 
ministers  who  have  completed  the  requirements  of  European  universities.  Wliile  the 
number  is  small,  it  is  sufficient  to  prove  the  capacity  of  the  people.  The  clerical  tasks 
of  government,  industry,  and  commerce  are  very  largely  entrusted  to  young  African 
men.  The  mechanical  operations  on  railroads  and  in  construction  are  more  and  more 
being  taken  over  by  African  workmen.  Every  mission  gives  emphatic  testimony  to  the 
value  of  the  Native  teachers  and  ministers.  In  view  of  the  inadequacy  and  'ack  of 
adaptation  of  educational  facilities  in  Africa  it  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  the  Native 
African  that  he  has  been  able  to  achieve  the  success  observed  in  every  colony. 

The  future  possibilities  of  the  African  Natives  may  be  somewhat  forecast  by  the 
success  of  Negroes  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  notably  in  America,  where  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Africans  are  living  in  such  large  numbers.  Wliile  the  American  Negro  has 
yet  much  to  achieve,  his  progress  in  the  acquisition  of  land  and  in  the  decrease  of  illit- 
eracy, his  entrance  into  skilled  occupations  and  professions,  and  his  erection  of  schools 
and  churches  are  positive  proofs  of  his  capacity.  Dr.  Anson  Phelps  Stokes  has  strik- 
ingly summarized  the  progress  of  the  American  Negro  in  his  Founders'  Day  Address 
at  Hampton  Institute  on  "Human  Improvability ": 

That  the  Negro  in  just  over  half  a  century  should  have  increased  his  homes  owned  from  12,000  to 
650,000;  farms  operated  from  20.000  to  1,000,000;  businesses  conducted  from  2,100  to  60,000;  literacy 
from  10  to  80  per  cent;  teachers  from  600  to  43,000;  voluntary  contributions  to  education  from  $80,000 
a  year  to  $2,700,000;  churches  from  700  to  45,000;  Sunday  school  pupils  from  50,000  to  2,250,000; 
church  property  from  $1,500,000  to  $90,000,000 — this  is  an  extraordinary  record  full  of  reassurance  to  those 
who  like  to  believe  in  human  improvability.  But  to  me  in  many  respects  the  most  significant  thing  is  that  the 
Negro's  land  holdings,  made  up  mainly  of  farms  which  he  works  himself,  now  amount  to  over  20,000,000 
acres,  an  area  equal  to  New  England  if  Maine  is  omitted.  We  must  also  not  overlook  the  important 
contribution  which  the  Negro  farm  tenant — there  are  over  700,000  in  the  South — is  making  directly  and 
indirectly  to  the  welfare  of  the  country.  By  his  free  labor  and  his  rent  payments  he  is  adding  materially  to 
the  wealth  of  the  southern  states  and  making  it  easier  for  them  to  support  adequately  their  public  schools. 

But  more  encouraging  even  than  the  names  of  leaders  and  statistics  of  progress  is  the  fact  that  during 
this  difficult  period  of  readjustment  the  Negro  has  maintained  his  religious  faith,  increased  his  thrift,  im- 
proved his  capacity  as  a  skilled  workman,  developed  self-respecting  Christian  homes,  and,  where  educational 
opportunities  have  been  suitable  and  adequate,  strengthened  his  character  and  his  capacity  for  wise  leader- 
ship of  his  own  people. 

Nor  are  the  possibilities  of  the  Africans  to  be  judged  only  by  the  progress  of  those 
who  have  entered  the  ranks  of  civilization,  whether  in  Africa,  Europe,  or  America. 
An  adequate  study  of  the  tribal  customs  and  capacities  of  those  who  are  still  in  bar- 
baric and  primitive  stages  will  more  and  more  reveal  the  fact  that  the  present  condi- 
tion of  the  masses  of  the  African  people  is  normal  and  comparable  with  other  peoples 
at  the  same  stage  of  development.  Their  folk-lore,  their  handicrafts,  their  Native 
music,  their  forms  of  government,  their  linguistic  powers,  all  are  substantial  evidences 
of  their  capacity  to  respond  to  the  wise  approaches  of  civilization  so  that  they  may 
share  in  the  development  of  the  African  continent.  Even  in  the  brief  tour  of  the  Com- 
mission, the  members  observed  goldsmiths,  copper  and  iron  workers,  weavers  of  cotton 
and  wool,  and  those  skilled  in  pottery,  leather,  wood,  and  ivory.  There  was  evidence  of 
considerable  knowledge  of  agriculture,  and,  even  though  the  results  were  often  crude, 


AFRICA  AND  EDUCATION 


7 


they  are  definite  indications  of  Native  powers.  The  colonial  chapters  of  this  Report 
give  numerous  illustrations  of  these  developments. 

European  and  American  Influences 

There  have  been  various  interpretations  of  the  contributions  made  by  the  white 
races  to  Africa.  Some  have  thought  that  the  influences  of  Europeans  and  Americans 
have  been  more  for  evil  than  for  good.  Some  have  thought  it  would  have  been  better 
to  leave  the  African  in  his  natural  condition.  Few  have  realized  the  importance  of 
the  movements  that  have  been  started  and  the  changes  that  have  been  wrought. 
It  must  be  stated  that  many  mistakes  have  been  made  and  many  injustices  have  been 
perpetrated.  In  some  sections  the  Africans  have  suffered  tragically  at  the  hands  of 
selfish  white  exploiters.  Evil  influences  originated  by  white  people  still  persist  in  too 
many  parts  of  Africa.  It  is,  however,  the  emphatic  conviction  of  the  Education  Com- 
mission that  the  gains  that  have  come  to  Africa  through  the  white  man  are  far  greater 
than  the  losses.  The  evidence  indicates  that  the  history  of  the  African  people  resem- 
bles that  of  all  other  peoples  in  the  world,  in  that  their  progress  has  been  and  will 
continue  to  be  the  result  of  cooperative  relationships  with  other  peoples.  It  seems  clear 
that  the  extreme  demand  for  the  elimination  of  the  white  man  from  Africa  represents 
a  desire  to  reverse  the  most  important  lessons  of  history.  Thoughtful  Africans  are 
increasingly  realizing  not  only  the  importance  but  the  necessity  of  the  cooperation  of 
the  white  group. 

Among  the  most  convincing  evidences  of  this  conviction  are  those  obtained  from  a 
study  of  the  portions  of  Africa  now  ruled  by  European  nations.  The  elements  of  life 
that  reflect  the  changes  introduced  by  the  white  groups  have  been  the  improvement  of 
physical  well-being,  including  the  decrease  of  sickness  and  death  and  the  attendant 
suffering;  the  decrease  and  often  the  elimination  of  the  power  of  witchcraft,  a  form 
of  oppression  exceedingly  general  and  cruel;  the  overthrow  of  intertribal  slavery; 
the  development  of  friendly  relations  among  tribes  formerly  hostile;  the  extension  of 
the  economic  benefits  of  the  country  to  all  the  tribes ;  and  the  opening  of  the  doors  of 
civilization  to  those  who  were  formerly  imited  to  the  narrow  compass  of  their  tribes. 
It  is  true  that  the  extension  of  commercial,  industrial,  and  even  governmental  influ- 
ences sometimes  have  too  often  been  attended  with  suffering  on  the  part  of  the  Native 
people.  The  early  periods  of  adjustment  to  the  new  forces  are  especially  trying.  But  in 
the  long  run  one  of  the  best  measures  of  the  final  influence  of  the  white  group  upon  the 
Native  peoples  is  the  increase  or  decrease  of  population.  So  long  as  there  are  no  records 
of  the  feelings  of  the  Native  masses  we  must  rely  upon  the  only  vital  measure  that 
reflects  the  condition  of  the  majority  of  the  group,  namely,  the  power  of  the  group  to 
maintain  Ufe.  On  this  basis,  the  statistics  of  most  of  the  colonies  show  a  decided  in- 
crease in  population,  and  therefore  an  improvement  of  general  welfare.  The  African 
areas  and  colonies  where  decreases  are  indicated  are  known  from  other  sources  to  be 
suffering  from  wrong  governmental,  economic,  or  social  policies. 

The  group  most  concerned  in  the  development  of  the  Native  peoples  is  the  mission- 
aries.  However  much  the  missions  may  differ  in  their  religious  creeds,  they  are  one 


8 


EDUCAl'ION  IN  AFRICA 


in  their  devotion  to  the  people.  Everywhere  they  have  been  the  founders  of  education. 
■While  the  government  has  been  mainly  concerned  with  the  establishment  of  peace  and 
order,  and  commercial  concerns  with  the  development  of  trade,  the  missions  have  dealt 
directly  with  the  morals  and  morale  of  the  people,  and  thus  have  made  the  most  funda- 
mental contribution  of  all  to  sound  colonial  development.  Fortunate  it  is  for  the  Native 
people  of  Africa,  and  fortunate  for  the  stability  of  government  and  the  prosperity  of 
commerce  and  industry,  that  men  and  women  have  been  inspired  by  the  Christian 
religion  to  devote  their  lives  without  price  and  without  praise  to  the  development  of 
human  character.  The  significance  of  Christian  missions  has  not  been  adequately  ap- 
preciated by  any  of  the  groups  concerned  in  Africa,  much  less  by  the  world  in  general. 
The  belief  of  the  missionaries  in  service  to  humanity  as  a  fundamental  principle  of  life, 
and  their  teaching  of  this  principle  as  it  has  been  revealed  to  the  world  through  Jesus 
Christ,  is  the  most  vital  element  in  the  development  of  Africa  and  of  Africans.  With- 
out the  power  and  authority  of  the  Christian  religion  to  mould  the  influences  of  govern- 
ment, commerce,  industry,  and  Native  life,  there  can  be  little  hope  for  the  future  of 
Africa.  There  are  some  missionaries  who  do  not  seem  to  realize  the  significance  of 
their  own  endeavors;  and  some  are  content  to  limit  their  influences  to  almost  unimpor- 
tant phases  of  life.  Nevertheless  Christian  missions  are  the  pioneers  of  civilization, 
and  the  advocates  of  Christian  love  as  the  essential  of  human  progress. 

The  record  of  government  service  in  Africa  is  a  mingling  of  the  good  and  the  bad, 
the  effective  and  the  ineffective,  the  wise  and  the  unwise.  Despite  the  failures  and  in- 
justices of  the  governments  in  handling  the  Natives,  the  advantages  to  Native  hfe 
provided  by  the  colonial  governments  have  on  the  whole  overshadowed  the  dis- 
advantages. The  Gold  Coast  fortresses  in  their  present  condition  may  truly  be  said 
to  be  cross-cuts  of  the  history  of  the  last  four  centuries.  The  dungeons  of  their  lower 
levels  point  to  the  cruel  slavery  of  the  early  centuries.  Their  upper  levels  are  now 
transformed  into  government  houses  where  policies  are  formulated  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  people — for  building  roads,  improving  sanitation,  and  providing  educa- 
tional facilities  for  the  Native  people.  While  this  picture  of  modern  colonial  policies 
is  unfortunately  not  applicable  to  all  the  colonial  powers,  nor  possibly  to  all  the  acts 
of  any  single  colonial  power,  the  trend  of  government  is  now  more  strongly  than  ever 
before  to  provide  for  the  welfare  of  the  Native  people.  The  Education  Commission 
was  deeply  impressed  by  the  high  average  of  ability  and  devotion  to  duty  observed  in 
the  colonial  service  in  most  of  the  colonies  visited.  In  a  number  of  instances  the  oflficers 
were  men  of  unusual  culture  and  refinement  who  had  devoted  their  whole  lives  to 
the  welfare  of  Native  peoples. 

The  largest  numerical  group  of  white  people  in  colonial  Africa  is  composed  of  the 
representatives  of  commerce  and  industry.  The  contribution  of  this  group  to  Native 
welfare  has  usually  been  limited  to  the  incidental  influence  of  their  economic  activities. 
Business  concerns,  whether  of  Europe  or  America,  have  only  recently  begun  to  reahze 
the  economic  value  of  an  interest  in  the  welfare  of  their  communities.  The  appreciation 
of  this  responsibility  in  Africa  is  not  much  in  evidence  even  now.  The  character  of 
the  influence  exerted  by  commercial  and  industrial  groups  has  depended  almost  entirely 


AFRICA  AND  EDUCATION 


9 


upon  the  type  of  agents  sent  to  the  colonics.  As  a  rule  these  types  reflect  the  general 
social  conditions  in  the  home  countries.  The  records  indicate  that  the  old-fashioned 
trader  was  too  often  a  reckless  adventurer,  who  cared  little  even  for  his  own  physical 
and  moral  welfare.  The  notoriety  of  this  group  still  casts  a  shadow  upon  African  com- 
merce. More  recent  conditions  of  trade  and  industry  have  resulted  in  many  improve- 
ments. At  present  the  commercial  and  industrial  groups  include  many  men  of  ability 
and  refinement.  The  home  organizations  are  more  and  more  insisting  on  higher  stand- 
ards of  ability  and  character  in  their  agents.  In  the  evaluation  of  contributions  made 
by  commerce  and  industry,  it  must  be  recognized  that  these  economic  forces  have  oc- 
cupied an  important  place  in  the  development  of  African  resources  and  incidentally 
in  the  enlargement  of  opportunities  for  the  Natives.  There  is,  however,  evidence  that 
many  of  the  economic  nterests  do  not  realize  how  vitally  their  prosperity  depends 
upon  the  general  welfare  of  the  colony.  Fortunately,  there  are  now  indications  of 
larger  appreciation  of  economic  responsibilities.  Quotations  from  The  African  World 
and  West  Africa  in  another  chapter*  refer  to  the  interestof  Lord  Leverhulmeand  others 
in  the  development  of  the  Native  people.  Under  the  leadership  of  Chambers  of  Com- 
merce and  other  federations  of  business  concerns  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  colonial 
representatives  of  business  and  industry  will  join  in  the  encouragement  and  support 
of  educational  movements  concerned  with  the  agricultural,  hygienic,  and  character 
development  of  the  masses  of  the  people.  The  white  groups  are  recognizing  more 
and  more  the  wisdom  of  working  for  and  with  Africa  and  Africans.  It  is  a  notable  fact 
that  practically  all  white  people  who  go  to  Africa  develop  a  strong  interest  in  the  coun- 
try. African  missionaries  are  enthusiastic  about  their  field.  Representatives  of  gov- 
ernment and  business  concerns  develop  a  real  attachment  to  their  areas  of  work.  Thus 
Cullen  Gouldsbury  in  his  poem,  "To  Mother  Africa,"  speaks  for  many  white  people 
who  have  spent  years  in  Africa : 

There  are  millions  who  know  nothing  of  your  spell, 
And  revile  you  for  your  cruelty  and  pain — 
"Out  in  Africa,"  they  say, 
"Men  are  lost  and  thrown  away." 

We  know  better,  Mother  Africa!  your  children  come  to  stay. 
And  they  never  scale  the  City  Wall  again ! 

Adequacy  and  Reality  of  Education  in  Africa 

That  education  in  Africa  shall  be  both  adequate  and  real  is  a  vital  responsibility 
for  all  who  are  concerned  with  Africa  and  Africans.  It  was  natural  that  the  great  mis- 
understandings already  described  should  have  minimized  the  importance  of  efforts  for 
the  development  of  the  Native  people.  Recent  events  in  the  world  have  brought  the 
claims  of  Africa  to  the  fore  in  emphatic  forms.  Black  troops  from  every  part  of  that 
continent  shared  in  the  fight  for  civilization.  African  colonies  gave  anxious  concern 
to  the  Versailles  Conference.  Civilization,  exhausted  by  the  destruction  of  war  and 
the  confusion  of  an  unsettled  world,  looks  to  Africa  to  help  replenish  its  resources. 
*See  page  83. 


10 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Whatever  the  significance  of  other  incidents  following  the  Great  War,  it  is  certain 
that  the  cry  of  "self-determination"  has  emphasized  the  claims  of  groups  hitherto  too 
largely  disregarded.  If  the  extreme  demands  of  self-determination  now  threaten  the 
[)cace  and  order  of  the  world,  the  only  safety  is  in  the  recognition  of  the  brotherhood  of 
humanity  expressed  in  educational  efforts  that  are  both  adequate  and  real.  As  nations 
are  tested  by  their  policies  toward  the  handicapped  groups  within  their  borders,  so  it 
may  be  said  that  the  continents  of  the  world  are  now  to  be  tried  by  their  policies  toward 
the  continent  of  Africa.  The  neglect  of  health  in  Africa  is  a  menace  to  every  continent, 
so  close  are  the  bonds  that  unite  different  parts  of  the  wwld.  Ignorance,  injustice,  un- 
rest, in  Africa  will  always  disturb  the  peace  of  mankind  elsewhere.  The  only  cure  for 
the  so-called  "rising  tide  of  color,"  and  "the  revolt  against  civilization,"  heralded 
abroad  with  such  anxiety  by  some  alarmists  of  the  present  time,  is  in  the  develop- 
ment of  genuine  and  sincere  cooperation  of  peoples  of  all  races  based  upon  an  educa- 
tion of  the  Native  masses  and  Native  leaders  in  the  common  essentials  of  life. 

It  seems  clear  that  the  educational  policies  of  governments  and  missions  have 
hitherto  been  inadequate  and  to  a  considerable  extent  unreal  so  far  as  the  vital  needs 
of  Africa  are  concerned.  In  none  of  the  colonies  visited  did  the  governments  include 
the  Director  of  Education  within  the  Executive  Councils.  Appropriations  for  educa- 
tion have  been  almost  negligible  in  comparison  with  the  great  needs.  WTiile  the  govern- 
ments may  have  been  justified  in  placing  sanitation  and  public  utilities  first  in  the  order 
of  time,  they  should  never  be  regarded  as  first  in  the  order  of  importance.  The  educa- 
tion of  the  people  is  in  the  long  run  fundamental  even  to  sanitation  and  public  order. 

Though  the  educational  facilities  in  Africa  are  to  be  largely  credited  to  missions, 
and  a  really  great  service  has  been  rendered  by  them  to  the  Native  people,  many  of  the 
missions  have  yet  to  realize  the  full  significance  of  education  in  the  development  of  the 
African  people.  None  can  question  the  sincerity  of  the  missionaries  or  their  noble 
devotion  to  the  welfare  of  the  people.  The  defects  in  their  educational  program,  so  far 
as  they  exist,  have  usually  been  due  to  their  conception  of  education.  Some  have 
thought  of  education  merely  as  the  imparting  of  information,  or,  at  most,  as  the  devel- 
opment of  the  mind  without  relation  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  life.  To  such  a  group 
education  has  no  religious  significance.  Others  have  thought  of  education  as  neces- 
sary chiefly  to  enable  the  Natives  to  read  the  Bible  and  to  understand  the  spirit  of 
Christianity.  This  group  has  been  content  with  an  education  in  books.  For  the  masses 
they  have  provided  the  three  R's.  For  the  catechists  and  the  advanced  pupils  they 
have  endeavored  to  give  a  knowledge  of  literature,  including,  of  course,  an  inter- 
pretation of  religion.  In  thus  limiting  education  to  classroom  instruction  in  books, 
missionaries  were  following  the  ideals  prevailing  in  the  home  country. 

In  recent  years  there  has  been  a  decided  enlargement  of  the  field  of  education  in 
Europe  and  America,  and  mission  education  is  necessarily  being  influenced  by  the 
changes.  It  is  recognized  that  the  school  has  definite  responsibilities  to  the  commu- 
nity. Its  influence  must  make  for  improved  health,  effective  industry,  helpful  recrea- 
tion, sound  character,  and  a  spirit  of  service.  The  researches  of  physical  and  social 
sciences  have  a  significance  to  mission  activities  that  is  vital.  Under  this  conception  of 


AFRICA  AND  EDUCATION 


11 


education  the  teaching  of  health  is  a  religious  duty,  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  is  coop- 
eration with  God,  and  every  other  need  of  the  individual  and  the  group  is  a  Christian 
responsibility. 

Notwithstanding  the  limited  personnel,  the  inadequate  equipment,  and  other  diffi- 
culties of  pioneer  conditions,  some  missions  have  been  remarkably  successful  in  the 
organizing  and  maintaining  of  educational  activities.  Records  show  that  some  of  the 
most  effective  elements  of  education  now  being  incorporated  in  the  school  systems  of 
America  and  Europe  have  originated  in  the  schools  of  the  home  and  foreign  mission 
fields.  Several  illustrations  of  this  fact  are  to  be  found  in  the  schools  described  in  the 
colonial  chapters  of  this  Report,  and  in  the  well-known  Hampton  and  Tuskegee  Insti- 
tutes of  America,  both  of  which  owe  their  existence  to  mission  forces. 

The  various  tj'pes  of  Christian  missions  in  the  world  thus  reveal  the  essentials  of 
Christian  education.  These  essentials  are  first,  the  appreciation  of  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  second,  the  application  of  this  spirit  to  the  needs  of  the  individual  and 
the  community.  This  comprehensive  conception  of  mission  education  requires  a  much 
larger  and  more  effective  support  from  the  Christian  world  than  missions  have  hitherto 
received.  If  the  world  is  to  be  Christian,  then  Christianity  must  broaden  its  concep- 
tion of  mission  possibilities.  Magnificent  results  require  magnificent  support.  There 
must  be  a  Christian  statesmanship  of  world-wide  vision.  The  financial  resources  of 
missions  must  be  multiplied  and  the  personnel  of  the  missionary  staflf,  representing 
the  best  of  Christian  culture  and  devotion,  must  be  increased  many  times.  The  sincere 
cooperation  of  governments,  commercial  organizations.  Native  people,  and  missions 
is  required  in  the  extension  of  education  to  the  masses  of  the  people  and  in  the 
development  of  a  wise  Native  leadership. 

Essentials  of  Educational  Organization 

The  essentials  of  educational  organization  and  method  required  to  realize  the  ade- 
quacy and  reality  urged  in  the  preceding  paragraphs  are  described  in  the  four  chapters 
entitled  Adaptations  of  Education,  Organization  and  Supervision,  Education  of  Masses 
and  of  Native  Leadership,  and  Cooperation  for  the  Education  of  Africans.  The  educa- 
tional conditions  observed  in  Africa  are  described  in  the  colonial  chapters.  Each 
chapter  represents  an  effort  to  indicate  the  extent  to  which  missions  and  governments 
have  realized  the  essentials  of  education  in  their  respective  colonies.  It  has  seemed 
necessary  to  outline  the  economic  and  sociological  backgrounds  of  education  for  each 
area  as  a  basis  for  the  evaluation  of  the  adequacy  and  adaptation  of  the  educational 
facilities  provided.  Even  though  the  economic  and  sociological  data  available  are 
meager,  they  are  sufficient  in  most  cases  to  reveal  the  heroism  and  devotion  of  Christian 
missionaries,  the  degree  of  educational  success  already  attained,  and  the  inspiring 
possibilities  awaiting  those  who  are  concerned  with  education  in  Africa. 

The  adaptation  of  education  to  the  needs  of  the  people  is  urged  as  the  first  requisite 
of  school  activities.  Much  of  the  indifference  and  even  opposition  to  education  in 
Africa  is  due  to  the  failure  to  adapt  school  work  to  African  conditions.  School  methods 
now  being  discarded  in  Europe  and  America  are  still  too  frequently  found.    It  is 


12 


EDUCATION  m  AFRICA 


little  wonder  that  those  who  have  seen  the  failures  of  unrelated  education  in  the  home 
countries  should  question  the  application  of  similar  methods  under  the  pioneer  condi- 
tions of  colonial  Africa.  It  is  urged  that  those  who  doubt  the  value  of  education  in 
Africa  should  give  careful  consideration  to  the  adaptations  of  education  as  presented 
m  the  chapter  on  that  subject. 

Many  of  the  failures  of  educational  systems  in  the  past  have  been  due  to  the  lack 
of  organization  and  supervision.  Governments  and  missions  have  not  applied  to  their 
educational  work  the  sound  principles  of  administration  which  are  increasingly  recog- 
nized in  other  undertakings  of  importance.  This  is  partly  explained  by  the  failure  to 
appreciate  the  importance  of  education,  and  partly  by  the  fact  that  those  responsible 
for  educational  and  religious  movements  have  so  often  failed  to  understand  the  neces- 
sity of  organization  and  supervision.  Closely  related  to  the  problems  of  adaptation 
and  organization  is  the  differentiation  of  education  for  the  masses  and  education  for 
Native  leadership.  Many  of  the  school  systems  observed  have  not  realized  the  inter- 
dependence of  these  two  aims  in  education.  Some  systems  are  directed  so  exclusively 
to  the  training  of  leaders  as  to  overlook  the  needs  of  the  masses  and  neglect  the  qualities 
of  Native  leadership  that  are  to  be  realized  only  through  a  vital  interest  in  the  masses. 
Other  systems  are  directed  entirely  to  the  training  of  the  masses  and  fail  to  provide  for 
Native  leadership  to  extend  and  to  interpret  education. 

A  strange  but  all-too-common  weakness  of  educational  endeavor  in  Africa  has  been 
the  lack  of  cooperation  among  the  three  groups  representing  European  and  American 
civilization.  Too  frequently  missions,  governments,  and  commercial  concerns  have 
worked  in  their  respective  spheres  without  adequate  consideration  for  one  another.  The 
participation  of  the  Natives  has  naturally  been  even  less  than  that  of  any  of  the 
other  groups.  Fortunately  there  are  now  indications  that  these  four  groups  will 
increasingly  unite  in  sincere  cooperation  for  the  education  of  the  Native  people.  The 
chapter  on  cooperation  summarizes  the  more  important  forms  of  cooperation  already 
realized. 

An  event  of  great  significance  to  cooperative  relationships  between  the  white  and 
black  people  of  the  world  recently  occurred  in  Washington  when  the  monument  to 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  dedicated.  The  speakers  of  the  occasion  were  President  Hard- 
ing, ex-President  Taft,  and  Principal  Robert  Russa  Moton  of  Tuskegee  Institute,  a 
black  man,  known  as  an  apostle  of  cooperation  between  the  races,  and  devoted  to 
the  best  interests  of  his  people  whether  in  America  or  Africa.  Not  only  was  the 
occasion  in  itself  an  expression  of  cooperation,  through  the  participation  of  the  three 
distinguished  men  representing  the  white  and  black  people,  but  it  personified  the 
nation-wide  cooperation  of  the  two  races  in  America,  and  typified  the  increasing 
cooperation  of  peoples  and  races  in  every  part  of  the  world.  Principal  Moton's 
eloquent  words  are  descriptive  of  the  past,  and  prophetic  of  the  future  of  cooperation. 
They  reflect  strikingly  the  spirit  of  his  teacher  and  friend,  the  late  Dr.  Hollis  B. 
Frissell,  principal  of  Hampton  Institute,  whose  Christian  statesmanship  was  one  of  the 
great  influences  that  helped  the  white  and  black  people  of  America  to  work  together 
for  the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  word  and  deed.   Dr.  Moton  said : 


AFRICA  AND  EDUCATION 


13 


In  the  providence  of  God  there  has  been  started  on  these  shores  the  great  experiment  of  the  ages — an 
experiment  in  human  rehilionships  where  men  and  women  of  every  nation,  of  every  race  and  creed,  are  thrown 
topether  in  daily  contact.  Here  we  are  engaged,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  in  the  great  problem  of  deter- 
mining how  different  races  can  not  only  live  together  in  peace  but  cooperate  in  working  out  a  higher  and 
better  civilization  than  has  yet  been  achieved.  At  the  extremes  the  white  and  black  races  face  each  other. 
Here  in  America  these  two  races  are  charged  under  God  with  the  responsibility  of  showing  to  the  world  how 
individuals,  as  well  as  races,  may  differ  most  widely  in  color  and  inheritance  and  at  the  same  time  make 
themselves  helpful  and  even  indispensable  to  each  other's  progress  and  prosperity. 

The  Realization  of  Educational  Ideals 

The  discussion  of  educational  adaptation,  supervision,  differentiation  of  mass  and 
leadership  education,  and  cooperation  has  been  necessarily  somewhat  abstract  and 
theoretical.  The  succeeding  chapters  of  this  Report,  especially  the  colonial  chapters, 
present  numerous  illustrations  of  the  recommendations  that  have  been  offered.  For 
an  example  of  the  M  orking  of  these  essentials  of  education  in  moulding  the  life  of 
individuals  and  communities,  we  can  turn  to  a  demonstration  successfully  made  by 
a  man  of  African  origin.  The  services  of  Booker  T.  Washington,  as  the  founder  of 
Tuskegee  Institute,  the  promoter  of  education  related  to  the  life  of  the  people,  and 
the  exponent  of  cooperation,  are  recognized  throughout  the  world.  Those  who  are 
concerned  with  the  welfare  of  Africa  will  do  well  to  study  the  life  and  work  of  this 
great  man. 

It  is  not  possible  within  this  brief  compass  even  to  mention  the  services  which  have 
won  the  gratitude  of  humanity.  It  may  be  possible,  however,  to  pass  on  to  the  world 
somewhat  of  the  inspiration  of  a  recent  occasion  when  a  monument  was  unveiled  to 
commemorate  the  work  of  Dr.  Washington.  This  monument  presents  Booker  Wash- 
ington lifting  the  veil  of  ignorance  from  the  brow  of  an  African  youth,  and  revealing 
to  him  not  only  the  lessons  of  the  printed  page,  but  the  Divine  gifts  that  come  through 
cooperation  with  God  in  the  use  of  the  plow  and  the  anvil.  The  climax  of  the  dedication 
ceremonies  was  an  address  by  Dr.  Wallace  Buttrick,  an  educator  of  international  fame, 
and  president  of  the  General  Education  Board,  established  by  Mr.  John  D.  Rocke- 
feller, probably  the  world's  greatest  educational  foundation.  This  Board  has  made 
possible  the  extension  of  education  in  many  directions  and  especially  to  the  white  and 
black  farmers  of  the  southern  states  of  America  by  methods  that  are  now  increasingly 
appreciated  by  educational  leaders  and  destined  to  be  adopted  in  every  part  of  the 
world.  Dr.  Buttrick,  as  the  executive  officer  of  the  Board,  cooperated  actively  with 
Booker  T.  Washington  and  had  a  very  complete  appreciation  of  the  qualities  of  his 
services.  Dr.  Buttrick's  statement  of  these  services  is  significant  for  Africa  and  Africans 
as  well  as  for  those  who  are  concerned  with  the  development  of  Africa.  Characteriz- 
ing Booker  T.  Washington  as  "one  of  the  world's  great  men,  one  of  the  very  limited 
number  of  men  who  make  enduring  contributions  to  human  progress,  one  of  the  world's 
immortals,  a  man  who  had  inspired  and  led  his  fellow  men  to  higher  things,"  Dr.  But- 
trick reviewed  briefly  his  career  from  the  day  when  as  a  coal-passer  in  the  mines  of 
West  Virginia  he  first  heard  of  Hampton  Institute,  through  the  years  spent  in  securing 
an  education  there,  the  beginnings  of  Tuskegee  Institute,  and  the  slow  hard  struggle 


14 


EDUCATION  m  AFRICA 


for  public  recognition  and  support,  to  the  place  of  ever-rising  and  widening  influence 
he  reached  in  his  country  and  in  the  world.  Dr.Buttrick  then  asked:  "What  were  the 
qualities  in  this  coal-passer  boy  that  enabled  him  to  rise  from  utter  obscurity  and 
ignorance  to  his  commanding  position?"  and  answered: 

That  rare  quality  7vhich  we  call  moral  earnestness. 

Speaking  years  later  of  his  purpose  formed  in  the  coal  mine,  he  said:  "I  resolved  at  once  to  go  to  that 
school,  although  I  had  no  idea  where  it  was,  or  how  many  miles  away,  or  how  I  was  going  to  reach  it." 

I  knew  him  for  many  years.  I  often  met  him  at  Tuskegee,  in  our  office  in  New  York,  and  on  public 
occasions.  I  never  knew  his  feet  to  lag.  He  was  always  pushing  ahead.  He  didn't  bustle,  there  was  no  lost 
motion,  no  rattling  of  the  machinery.  But  he  carried  with  him  a  quality  of  earnestness  that  was  infectious. 
His  whole  life  said:  "I  must  be  about  my  Master's  business." 

Yes,  he  worked  too  hard;  he  shortened  his  own  life.  But  better  forty  years  of  such  work  as  his,  than  life- 
times of  others  who  dawdle  their  poor  way  through  many  years.  What  friend  of  Booker  Washington  is  not 
inspired  to  greater  determination  every  time  he  thinks  of  him? 

lie  had  trained  capacity  for  sustained  attention. 

His  was  but  a  meager  schooling,  measured  in  terms  of  curriculum;  but  he  gained  that  thing  best  worth 
while,  the  capacity  for  sustained  attention.  Washington  came  to  every  day's  work  as  to  a  new  field  of 
endeavor,  and  throughout  its  hours,  with  enthusiasm  and  eagerness,  he  gave  himself  to  the  duty  and  the 
opportunity  at  hand.  The  great  men  of  the  world  have  always  had  that  quality,  the  ability  to  grip  their 
mental  powers  and  to  hold  them  to  the  task.  That,  I  say,  is  the  thing  most  worth  while  in  education.  The 
schooling  at  Hampton  and  at  Tuskegee,  where  from  dawn  till  dark  boys  and  girls  are  kept  at  work,  makes 
for  this  capacity  and  accounts  for  the  high  per  cent  of  graduates  from  these  schools  who  make  good  in  the 
world.  The  conspicuous  lack  of  that  sort  of  discipline  in  many  of  the  schools  and  colleges  of  the  country 
explains  why  so  few  graduates  of  them  ever  come  to  anything  worth  while. 

He  early  learned  that  one  contributes  best  to  the  progress  of  human  civilization  by  Doing  the  Next  Thing. 

I  never  heard  him  use  that  silly  word  "problem"  in  talking  about  the  present  and  future  of  the  Negro. 
He  didn't  think  in  terms  of  problems,  but  of  opportunities.  If  Washington  had  defined  his  philosophy  of 
duty  he  would  have  said  something  like  this:  The  plan  is  with  Him  who  dwells  above;  I  can  only  contribute 
to  the  fulfillment  of  that  plan  when  in  the  light  of  conscience  and  trained  intelligence  I  do  the  thing  next  at 
hand,  only  as  I  address  myself  to  the  opportunities  that  emerge  in  the  work  of  the  day.  Some  people  used  the 
word  opprobriously  when  they  called  him  an  "opportunist."  This  was  most  unjust.  He  was  a  man  of  high 
principle,  he  cherished  high  ideals,  but  he  saw  that  progress  was  from  less  to  more,  from  what  is  to  what 
should  be.  Day  by  day  he  was  content  to  do  the  small  and  ordinary  things  that,  when  done,  taken  together 
constitute  great  things.  He  thought  in  terms  of  fifty  years  hence;  he  wrought  the  duty  of  today. 

He  had  that  rare  quality  which  we  call  magnanimity  and  without  which  there  can  be  no  enduring  greatness. 

I  never  heard  him  speak  ill  of  anyone,  although  I  often  talked  with  him  about  men  who  opposed  him  or 
failed  to  understand  him.  In  my  experience  he  always  endeavored  to  get  the  other  fellow's  point  of  view 
that  he  himself  might  not  be  unjust  to  him  or  be  misled  by  prejudice,  resentment  or  hatred.  This  quality 
was  not  what  Horace  Bushnell  called  "an  over-good  kind  of  goodness,"  but  was  based  on  fixed  principle  and 
high  philosophy.  He  knew  that  truth  is  facts  set  in  perspective.  He  was  unwilling  to  misjudge  a  fellowman. 
He  refused  to  cherish  resentment.  Thus  he  said,  "No  man,  either  white  or  black,  from  north  or  south,  shall 
drag  me  down  so  low  as  to  make  me  hate  him." 

These  qualities  which  I  have  too  hastily  tried  to  define  were  all  fused  with  one  supreme  quality: 

He  possessed  in  rare  degree  the  Spirit  of  J esus. 

It  is  only  the  possession  of  this  Spirit  that  entitles  any  person  to  be  called  a  Christian.  Booker  Wash- 
ington was  not  a  sectarian.  He  had  little  interest  in  theological  questions.  A  logical  statement  of  so-called 
Christian  doctrine  did  not  appeal  to  him  as  of  much  account.  He  realized  that  "the  Spirit  of  Jesus  is  the 
salvation  of  the  individual  and  of  society."  It  is  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  within  our  hearts  and  conditioning  and 
controlling  our  lives  that  constitutes  our  personal  salvation  and  that  measures  the  extent  and  value  of  our 
influence  in  the  world. 


AFRICA  AND  EDUCATION 


15 


No  one  can  read  the  Chapel  Talks  of  Booker  Washington  without  realizing  his  close  kinship  to  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  lie  thought  in  a  high  and  large  way  of  the  common  things  of  life.  lie  feathered  the  arrows  of  his 
thoughts  with  illustrations  drawn  from  the  every-day  life  of  common  people.  He  exalted  the  homely  virtues. 
He  saw  and  taught  that  the  religious  life  found  its  true  expression,  not  in  ecstasies  of  emotion,  hut  in  the  doing 
of  common  things  right.  To  him  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  was  not  some  far-off  thing,  but  his  own  home,  his 
own  office,  his  own  school,  his  circle  of  friendship.  To  him  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  was  "love,  joy,  peace, 
long-suflering,  gentleness,  meekness,  goodness,  faith."  .  .  .  His  life  was  conditioned  and  controlled  by  the 
Spirit  of  Him  who  said,  "If  ye  love  Me  ye  will  keep  My  commandments,"  and,  "He  that  would  be  chief 
among  you,  let  him  become  the  servant  of  all." 

The  services  of  Booker  Washington  reveal  the  possibilities  of  men  of  African  blood, 
the  qualities  of  mind  and  soul  they  may  attain,  and  the  peculiar  value  of  their  contribu- 
tion to  human  welfare.  Booker  Washington's  life  and  work  personify  the  methods, 
the  principles,  and  the  ideals  necessary  for  those  who  would  work  for  and  with  Africans. 
Most  of  all  must  the  Africans  themselves  be  guided  and  inspired  by  these  ideals  if  they 
would  participate  in  the  salvation  of  their  great  continent. 


Chapter  II 


ADAPTATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 

The  adaptation  of  education  to  the  needs  of  the  individual  and  the  community  is 
increasingly  emphasized  in  the  recommendations  of  American  and  European  educators. 
There  are  insistent  demands  that  school  programs  shall  prepare  the  youth  to  deal  wisely 
and  effectively  with  problems  of  their  country  and  their  generation.  Educational  con- 
ventions and  traditions  must  prove  their  claim  to  a  place  in  modern  thought  and  prac- 
tice. Nor  are  the  tests  limited  to  the  utilitarian  or  "bread-and-butter"  elements  of 
life.  They  are  comprehensive  and  searching,  and  they  demand  that  education  shall 
provide  for  the  hygienic,  economic,  mental,  and  spiritual  development  of  the  youth 
of  Europe  and  America.  Japan  long  ago  joined  in  the  demand.  China  and  India 
are  now  beginning  to  add  their  voices  to  the  appeal.  Surely  Africa  and  Africans  must 
be  included  in  plans  for  educational  adaptation. 

The  wholesale  transfer  of  the  educational  conventions  of  Europe  and  America 
to  the  peoples  of  Africa  has  certainly  not  been  an  act  of  wisdom,  however  justly  it 
may  be  defended  as  a  proof  of  genuine  interest  in  the  Native  people.  Now  that  the 
futility  of  many  of  these  conventions  for  advanced  social  groups  has  been  recognized, 
is  it  not  imperative  that  the  Africans  and  their  friends  shall  urge  the  greater  injustice 
of  applying  them  to  the  widely  diverse  conditions  of  the  primitive  groups  in  Africa? 
The  too  frequent  charges  of  the  failure  of  Native  education  are  traceable  in  part  to 
the  lack  of  educational  adaptation  to  Native  life.  These  charges  of  failure  have,  of 
course,  been  overemphasized  by  those  who  have  no  interest  or  faith  in  the  development 
of  Native  people.  It  is  probable  that  only  time  will  overcome  the  indifference  or  hos- 
tility of  those  whose  racial  conceit  or  racial  selfishness  blinds  them  to  the  educational 
possibilities  of  the  African  people.  For  the  comfort  of  those  who  sincerely  believe 
that  education  has  hitherto  failed,  it  is  necessary  to  present  the  numerous  illustrations 
of  success  achieved  by  Native  Africans  in  many  occupations.  Every  colony  visited 
by  the  Education  Commission  had  many  intelligent,  industrious,  and  honest  Native 
people  educated  in  mission  and  government  schools.  Practically  all  the  clerical  work 
of  the  government  agencies  and  commercial  concerns  in  the  colonies  is  done  by  the 
graduates  of  African  school  systems.  The  railways,  river  boats,  telegraph  systems, 
are  largely  manned  by  Africans  trained  in  schools  and  shops.  There  are  also  a  num- 
ber of  successful  merchants,  physicians,  and  lawyers,  and  a  considerable  number  of 
ministers  and  teachers  who  have  risen  from  primitive  village  life  through  education. 

While  these  successes  afford  proof  of  the  possibilities  of  the  Native  Africans  and 
of  the  achievements  of  existing  educational  systems,  there  are  numerous  evidences 
that  a  wise  adaptation  of  education  would  have  very  greatly  improved  the  results. 
The  best  form  of  appreciation  for  the  past  contributions  of  mission  and  government 
schools  is  that  which  demands  the  application  of  recognized  methods  of  education  in 
the  schools  of  Africa.  It  has  been  interesting  to  observe  the  various  forms  of  educa- 
tional complaints  offered  by  the  Africans  themselves.    Educated  Africans  have  on 


ADAPTATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 


17 


several  occasions  urged  the  iinj)ortance  of  more  science  in  the  school  curriculum. 
The  chapter  on  Sierra  Leone  records  the  incident  of  two  African  graduates  of  Fourah 
Bay  College,  who  gave  money  to  their  Alma  Mater  to  found  a  chair  of  science,  that  the 
literary  and  classical  instruction  of  the  institution  might  be  supplemented  by  knowl- 
edge of  the  great  modern  sciences.  Other  Natives  have  realized  at  the  end  of  their 
school  courses  that  their  training  did  not  fit  them  to  meet  any  of  the  definite  needs  of 
the  commimity  exccj)t  possibly  those  of  clerical  activities  for  commercial  concerns  or 
the  reproduction  of  their  own  type  as  teachers  in  the  prevailing  school  systems.  It  is 
significant  that  some  of  the  Indian  leaders  of  thought  have  recently  charged  much  of 
the  unrest  in  India  to  the  fact  that  the  schools  have  too  exclusively  prepared  the  young 
Indians  for  literary  and  clerical  occupations  to  the  neglect  of  the  activities  that  are  more 
fundamental  in  the  economic  and  social  development  of  their  great  country.  Thus 
there  has  been  an  over-supply  of  school  graduates  who  are  prepared  to  write  and  talk, 
and  an  under-supply  of  those  who  can  till  the  soil  and  engage  in  the  great  and  numerous 
mechanical  operations  of  the  country  and  share  in  the  social  improvement  required 
by  the  masses  of  the  people.  Other  complaints  of  African  education  have  come  from 
chiefs  who  have  observed  that  their  youth  were  estranged  from  their  own  people  and 
no  longer  willing  to  cooperate  in  the  life  of  their  Native  communities.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  education  is  bound  to  change  the  attitude  of  the  youth  with  regard  to 
many  of  the  Native  practices;  but  it  is  equally  evident  that  the  youth  should  not  lose 
respect  for  the  people  from  whom  they  have  sprung. 

The  complaints  of  Europeans  against  the  educational  activities  have  also  been 
varied.  Some  of  them  are  interested  only  in  the  production  of  clerks  for  business. 
This  group  has  been  fairly  well  satisfied.  Other  Europeans  are  eager  for  well-trained 
mechanics  and  have  urged  that  the  schools  should  be  more  concerned  with  industrial 
activities.  It  has  been  a  surprise  that  so  few  Europeans  or  Africans  have  realized 
that  the  most  fundamental  demand  vocationally  is  for  training  to  develop  the  soil 
possibilities  of  the  great  African  continent.  It  seems  obvious  that  the  future  of  all 
organizations  in  Africa  depends  more  upon  the  effective  use  of  the  soil  than  upon  any 
other  of  the  numerous  resources  of  the  continent.  It  has  been  equally  a  surprise  that 
so  few  Europeans  and  Africans  have  recognized  the  fundamental  importance  of  in- 
struction in  health  and  sanitation.  Neglect  of  this  phase  of  education  seems  inexplic- 
able. It  is  probably  the  most  convincing  indication  of  the  extent  to  which  the  adapta- 
tion of  education  has  been  neglected. 

In  view  of  the  obvious  need  for  relating  education  to  conditions  of  life,  it  may  seem 
surprising  that  some  educated  Natives  have  been  opposed  to  any  departure  from  the 
existing  conventionalized  school  systems.  Intimate  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  these 
protests  reveals  their  origin  to  be  the  fear  of  any  movement  for  segregation  of  the  black 
people.  Past  experience  has  convinced  some  of  the  educated  Natives  that  departures 
from  the  white  man's  methods  have  too  frequently  meant  an  inferior  provision  for  the 
black  people.  They  are  therefore  naturally  suspicious  of  adaptations  as  the  entering 
wedge  for  educational  segregation.  Any  movement  to  provide  an  inferior  system  of 
education  for  the  black  man  is  of  course  to  be  condemned.    Study  of  recent  move- 


18 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


ments  in  education  should  quickly  convince  the  Africans  and  their  friends  that  adapta- 
tion provides  for  all  phases  of  education,  from  the  elementary  school  to  the  specialized 
professions,  that  are  required  for  the  full  development  of  the  African  people.  The  prin- 
ciple of  adaptation  is  as  applicable  to  the  teaching  of  history  and  science  in  college  and 
professional  schools  as  it  is  in  the  teaching  of  reading  and  agriculture  in  the  elementary 
schools.  This  wide  application  of  adaptation  requires  a  presentation  of  the  principle 
in  its  relation  first  to  the  education  of  the  individual,  second  to  education  in  the  rural 
community,  and  third  to  education  in  the  urban  community.  These  three  forms  illus- 
trate the  variety  and  the  essential  quality  of  adaptation  in  all  school  activities.  They 
are  therefore  offered  as  tests  of  school  curricula  and  as  suggestions  for  the  future  devel- 
opments that  may  be  required. 

ADAPTATION  IN  THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL 

While  education  is  equally  concerned  with  the  development  of  the  individual  and 
the  community,  the  first  approach  of  the  school  is  usually  to  the  individual.  It  is 
therefore  desirable  to  present  the  elements  of  individual  life  that  should  be  regarded  in 
the  program  of  school  activities.  The  elements  herewith  considered  probably  include 
the  more  essential  phases  of  individual  life.  The  order  in  which  they  are  arranged  has 
been  determined  partly  by  the  order  in  which  the  teacher  and  the  school  must  deal 
with  them,  and  partly  by  their  relation  to  one  another.  It  has  seemed  clear  that  health 
is  among  the  very  first  responsibilities  of  the  school  and  the  teacher.  This  does  not 
mean  that  health  is  more  important  than  the  other  phases  of  life,  but  it  does  mean 
that  all  the  other  developments  are  very  directly  dependent  on  the  bodily  condition 
of  the  pupil.  The  next  three  topics,  namely,  the  use  of  environment,  preparation  for 
home  life,  and  the  use  of  leisure  time,  are  concerned  with  the  individual's  relation  to 
the  economic  and  social  forces  with  which  he  must  be  concerned.  This  is  followed 
by  a  presentation  of  the  languages  of  instruction  and  the  conventional  subjects  of  the 
curricula  as  two  of  the  elements  in  the  training  of  the  youth.  Finally  character  devel- 
opment and  religious  life  are  considered  as  the  most  vital  features  of  education,  color- 
ing and  moulding  every  phase  of  individual  growth.  The  further  justification  of  the 
selection  of  these  eight  elements  of  individual  development  as  tests  of  educational 
adaptation  will  appear  in  the  following  discussion  of  each  topic. 

Health 

Strange  as  it  may  seem  only  a  negligible  number  of  the  schools  visited  in  Africa 
have  made  adequate  provision  for  the  teaching  of  health  and  sanitation.  Even  in 
sections  where  the  death  rate  has  been  astoundingly  high  the  school  program  has  not 
included  health  and  hygiene.  Credit  must  be  given  to  the  Europeans  and  Americans 
whose  manner  of  life  has  furnished  an  example  of  the  methods  of  avoiding  diseases. 
Practically  all  the  schools  insist  upon  some  standards  of  cleanhness  and  order.  Gov- 
ernment regulations  for  the  promotion  of  sanitary  conditions  have  had  a  decidedly 
educational  effect.   The  work  of  government  and  mission  physicians  and  numerous 


ADAl^TATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 


19 


clinics  has  given  practical  lessons  to  many  Native  people  who  have  sought  relief 
from  their  i)liysical  ailments. 

With  full  credit  for  the  health  influences  that  have  been  incidental  to  school  man- 
agement and  governmental  control,  it  must  be  said,  however,  that  neither  govern- 
ments nor  missions  have  given  to  this  important  element  of  life  the  place  whlcli  it  de- 
serves in  African  schools.  The  mdre  progressive  systems  of  education  have  offered 
health  and  sanitation  among  the  optional  subjects  of  the  school  curriculum.  A  very 
small  number  of  schools  require  the  subject  to  be  taught  in  some  of  the  grades  or  stand- 
ards. An  adequate  health  program  requires  the  inclusion  of  the  subject  in  every 
department  of  the  school  system.  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  discussion 
to  outline  the  details  of  a  course  in  health  and  hygiene.  The  purpose  is  to  indicate 
the  essential  character  of  the  subject  and  the  minimum  requirements  in  an  effective 
system  of  schools.  The  requirements  upon  which  all  will  probably  agree  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  school,  including  the  classroom,  recreational,  and  other  activities  of 
the  institution,  should  make  certain  that  every  pupil  realizes  the  vital  importance  of 
hygiene  and  sanitation  both  to  himself  and  to  his  community. 

2.  To  this  end  the  subject  should  be  taught  in  such  standards  or  grades  as  wall 
influence  the  masses  of  pupils  in  the  lower  grades  and  the  more  advanced  pupils  of 
the  upper  standards. 

3.  It  is  useless  to  teach  the  laws  of  sanitation  and  hygiene  in  the  classroom  when 
they  are  disregarded  in  the  arrangement  of  buildings,  toilet  facilities,  sewage  disposal, 
water  supply,  and  other  vital  parts  of  institutional  life. 

4.  Teachers  should  not  only  be  required  to  pass  examinations  in  the  principles  of 
health  and  hygiene,  but  special  instruction  should  be  given  them  in  first  aid  and  the 
simpler  forms  of  medical  treatment. 

5.  Provision  should  be  made  for  the  special  training  of  health  workers,  such  as 
visiting  nurses  and  medical  assistants.  This  type  of  training  is  being  developed  by  the 
government,  cooperating  with  the  missions  of  the  Belgian  Congo. 

6.  It  is  evident  that  the  health  and  sanitation  needs  of  Africa  will  increasingly 
require  the  help  of  Native  Africans  who  have  had  complete  medical  and  surgical 
training.  Hitherto  such  training  has  been  provided  only  by  study  in  the  medical 
schools  of  Europe  or  America.  Colonial  authorities  and  mission  leaders  are  urging 
the  development  of  two  or  three  medical  schools  at  centers  to  be  selected  for  their 
accessibility  and  for  their  language  possibilities.  The  language  considerations  are 
those  determined  by  the  colonial  government  and  the  prevailing  vernaculars.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  development  of  these  medical  schools  may  not  be  delayed  imtil 
the  full  standards  of  European  medical  schools  may  be  realized.  Recent  studies  of 
medical  needs  among  the  primitive  peoples  justify  the  organization  of  medical  schools 
of  somewhat  different  standards,  provided  the  policy  requires  the  elevation  of  these 
standards  as  rapidly  as  financial  and  educational  conditions  make  it  possible.  The 
graduates  of  such  medical  schools  must  of  coiu-se  receive  the  official  recog- 
nition of  the  governments.  This  plan  is  now  being  definitely  considered  in  the  Union 


20 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


of  South  Africa  where  efforts  have  been  made  to  build  a  standard  medical  school  in 
connection  with  Fort  Hare,  and  a  school  of  different  standards  in  Durban. 

Use  of  Environment 

The  importance  of  the  preparation  of  the  individual  to  make  effective  use  of  his 
environment  seems  so  obvious  as  to  require  no  recommendation.  Even  casual  obser- 
vation of  educational  activities  in  Africa,  however,  shows  lamentable  neglect  of  the 
fundamental  need  of  the  Native.  The  overwhelming  majority  of  the  Africans  must 
live  on  and  by  the  soil,  but  the  schools  make  very  little  provision  for  training  in  this 
important  element  for  life.  Next  to  the  effective  use  of  the  soil  the  most  important 
activities  are  the  simple  handicrafts  required  in  the  kraals  and  villages.  There  are  also 
the  demands  of  commercial  environments.  These  are  more  frequently  supplied  by  the 
usual  school  instruction  in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic.  The  products  of  the 
schools  are  almost  all  destined  for  clerical  positions  and  teaching  in  bush  schools; 
commercial  concerns  and  schools  are  calling  for  a  larger  supply  of  graduates  who  are 
better  prepared  for  their  work.  Important  as  demands  of  commercial  and  teaching 
positions  are,  the  fundamental  demands  of  the  African  masses  are  those  that  pertain 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  and  the  improvement  of  the  conditions  of  village  life 
through  simple  handicraft.  Hitherto  these  important  elements  of  life  have  been  taught 
by  missions  and  government  too  largely  as  incidents  to  the  food  needs  of  the  missions 
or  the  commercial  demands  of  the  colony.  With  a  few  notable  exceptions  there  has 
been  very  little  instruction  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  or  in  the  handicrafts. 

Use  of  the  soil  and  animal  life. 

The  British  colonies  require  the  Native  teachers  to  take  a  limited  amount  of  in- 
struction in  soil  operations  during  their  period  of  training.  Some  gardening  instruction 
is  demanded  by  the  program  of  the  assisted  schools  of  the  British  colonies.  Some  of 
the  mission  societies  endeavor  to  include  instruction  in  gardening  as  a  regular  part 
of  the  school  activities.  A  few  mission  societies  have  in  recent  years  sent  agricultural 
missionaries  to  Africa.  Practically  all  mission  stations  maintain  gardens  in  which 
pupils  are  required  to  work  as  a  part  of  the  work  system  of  the  institution.  The  sum- 
total  of  all  that  has  been  done  in  agriculture  is,  however,  but  a  small  beginning  toward 
the  training  that  is  required  to  prepare  the  Native  to  make  effective  use  of  the  soil. 
The  following  recommendations  are  offered  as  suggestions  of  the  courses  required  in 
African  schools: 

1.  The  school  program  should  provide  such  instruction  in  gardening  as  is  neces- 
sary to  develop  skill  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  and  appreciation  for  the  soil  as  one  of 
the  great  resources  of  the  world.  In  the  classroom  the  study  of  the  soil  should  rank 
with  the  most  important  subjects  of  the  curriculum.  The  practical  work  should  be 
regarded  as  a  part  of  the  educational  system  and  not  demanded  as  the  necessary  drudg- 
ery of  the  institution.  The  aim  should  be  to  convince  the  pupil  that  cultivation  of 
the  soil  is  coworking  with  God.  Closely  connected  with  appreciation  of  the  soil  is  an 
understanding  of  the  importance  of  animal  life  to  the  welfare  of  the  community.  A 


ADAPTATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 


21 


few  schools  have  aroused  the  pupils  to  an  intelligent  and  hel{)ful  interest  in  the  smaller 
animals  that  may  be  raised  in  the  villages  and  open  country.  Schools  the  world  over 
have  largelylneglected]  the  essential  place  which  these  animals  hold  in  relation  to  eco- 
nomic well-being  and  health.  Teachers  and  pui)i]s  seem  naturally  to  regard  the  larger 
and  unusual  animals  as  more  worthy  of  consideration  in  the  schools.  Tlie  study  of  the 
elephant,  the  lion,  or  even  the  cat  is  preferred  to  that  of  the  fowl,  the  goat,  or  the  pig. 
Among  the  most  important  educational  contributions  of  schools  like  Tuskcgee  Insti- 
tute in  the  United  States  has  been  the  recognition  secured  by  these  schools  for  in- 
struction in  the  care  of  farm  animals,  and  especially  for  the  smaller  animals  that  are 
so  essential  to  families  of  limited  economic  means. 

2.  Methods  and  practice  of  gardening,  and  the  care  and  breeding  of  small  farm 
animals  should  be  taught  in  the  elementary  grades  of  all  schools.  The  proportion 
of  time  in  schoolroom  and  in  practice  must  be  determined  by  the  advancement  of  the 
pupil  and  the  general  conditions  of  the  country  and  the  people  where  the  school  is 
located. 

3.  Special  courses  should  be  provided  to  supplement  the  general  training  of  all 
the  Native  teachers  who  are  to  teach  in  the  elementary  schools.  Such  courses  are  now 
provided  by  the  government  in  some  of  the  British  colonies.  As  yet,  however,  they 
are  too  limited  in  extent  and  not  sufBciently  practical. 

4.  School  departments  in  agriculture  should  be  provided  for  the  advanced  instruc- 
tion of  pupils  who  are  to  specialize  in  agriculture  either  as  teachers  in  agriculture  or  as 
itinerant  instructors. 

Handicrafts 

Every  pupil  should  be  taught  the  special  forms  of  hand  skill  required  in  his  com- 
munity, so  that  he  may  be  able  to  use  the  materials  available  to  make  the  conditions 
of  life  healthful  and  comfortable.  Such  instruction  should  not  be  merely  incidental 
to  the  needs  of  the  station.  Nor  should  it  be  regarded  as  merely  for  economic  ends. 
It  should  be  understood  that  the  training  of  the  hand  involves  a  training  of  the  mind 
and  of  the  character.  The  educational  systems  observed  in  Africa  either  omit  all  pro- 
vision for  the  training  of  the  hand  or  offer  a  formal  instruction  patterned  after  the  man- 
ual training  courses  of  the  large  urban  schools  of  Europe  or  America.  Four  or  five 
schools  maintain  shops  in  which  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  pupils  are  taught 
rather  highly  technical  trades  on  the  long-time  apprenticeship  basis.  The  primary 
handicraft  needs  of  the  Natives  in  Africa  are  those  that  will  prepare  every  teacher 
and  Native  worker  to  go  out  into  the  little  villages  and  teach  the  Natives  how 
to  make  better  use  of  the  wood,  clay,  cane,  hides,  iron,  or  other  products  which 
may  be  discovered  in  sufiicient  quantities  to  be  useful.  Formal  manual  training 
is  usually  too  far  removed  from  the  life  of  the  simple  people  to  serve  any  useful  purpose. 
Skill  in  technical  trades  is  chiefly  valuable  to  the  large  commercial  concerns  owned  by 
the  white  people.  The  following  recommendations  suggest  the  various  forms  of  handi- 
craft training  which  may  be  introduced  into  mission  and  government  schools: 


22 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


1.  The  elementary  classes  of  boys  and  girls  should  include  the  regular  instruction 
and  practice  in  handwork  with  Native  materials  that  may  be  used  in  the  making  of  the 
simple  implements  of  industry,  the  little  conveniences  required  in  the  home,  or  the 
articles  to  be  used  in  recreation  or  play.  The  work  should,  of  course,  be  graded  accord- 
ing to  the  age  and  skill  of  the  pupils.  Preference  should  always  be  given  to  the  articles 
used  in  the  village  as  against  those  which  may  be  sold  to  the  white  community.  It  is 
important  that  the  pupil  shall  realize  that  his  skill  should  be  applied  to  the  improve- 
ment of  his  school  as  well  as  his  home,  not  only  in  new  construction,  but  in  the  neces- 
sary repairs  of  dormitory,  classroom,  or  even  the  homes  in  the  neighborhood  village. 
The  training  of  girls  should,  of  course,  have  regard  esi^ecially  for  their  responsibilities 
in  the  home.  The  older  girls  should  give  increasing  attention  to  cooking,  sewing,  and 
other  household  work. 

2.  The  general  instruction  of  teachers  should  be  supplemented  by  as  much  train- 
ing as  possible  in  the  handicrafts  in  which  the  teacher  is  to  lead  both  in  his  school  and 
in  the  communities  about  the  school. 

3.  Every  school  system  should  include  at  least  one  school  with  a  department  of 
technical  or  industrial  education  giving  specialized  training,  so  that  the  pupils  who 
attend  it  may  become  vocational  teachers  or  mechanics  in  the  industrial  activities  of 
the  colony. 

Preparation  for  Home  Life 

The  regular  school  systems  of  the  world  have  rarely  given  adequate  consideration 
to  their  responsibilities  in  preparing  youth  to  become  helpful  members  of  the  home. 
Increasing  provision  is  now  being  made  in  the  progressive  schools  of  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica to  give  young  women  special  training  in  various  forms  of  domestic  life.  But  the 
responsibility  of  education  is  much  wider  than  that  provided  by  courses  for  young 
women  in  domestic  science  and  domestic  art.  The  home  is  recognized  as  one  of  the 
most  fundamental  institutions  of  human  society.  There  are  varied  and  vital  respon- 
sibilities for  both  young  and  old;  the  children  and  parents  are  members  of  the  home. 
If  the  schools  of  the  more  advanced  social  groups  have  responsibilities  for  training 
that  contribute  to  the  effectiveness  of  home  life,  surely  the  schools  for  primitive  peo- 
ples must  make  definite  provision  for  the  fulfillment  of  this  responsibihty.  Even 
though  it  be  granted  that  the  civilized  home  is  self-sufficient,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  primitive  family  lacks  many  of  the  most  vital  requisites  of  healthful  home  life, 
including  often  even  the  decencies  that  are  required  for  the  training  of  the  children. 
The  schools  must  therefore  plan  to  make  use  of  every  school  activity  for  the  training  of 
the  youth  in  the  essentials  of  home  life.  Boys  as  well  as  girls  must  be  considered  in 
planning  the  influences  that  are  to  form  habits  and  attitudes  and  to  mould  the  youth 
for  effective  participation  in  the  making  of  homes. 

To  be  sure  the  home  hfe  of  the  missionaries  and  other  Europeans  and  Americans 
who  live  among  primitive  people  exercises  a  decided  influence  for  good.  Primitive 
people  are  imitative,  and  they  copy  the  dress,  the  modes  of  eating,  and  the  habits  of 
life  of  those  they  see  about  them.  Furthermore,  missions  and  schools  insist  upon 
certain  modes  of  behavior  on  the  part  of  the  Natives  who  come  as  pupils  to  the  school, 


ADAPTATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 


23 


as  members  of  the  church,  or  even  as  employees.  I'liere  is,  however,  very  Httlc  i)ro- 
vision  for  the  reguhir  instruction  of  the  pupils  in  these  vital  elements  of  home  life. 
Pupils  and  the  community  in  general  are  permitted  to  imitate  without  guidance,  and 
the  imitation  is  frequently  ludicrous  and  even  harmful.  This  api)lies  csiKn  ially  to  the 
adoption  of  European  dress  so  badly  adapted  to  the  tropics.  Conditions  under  which 
the  pupils  sleep  and  eat  have  received  but  slight  consideration  in  the  j)lans  and  policies 
of  the  schools.  Very  little  effort  is  made  to  influence  the  building  of  the  structures  in 
which  they  live  or  the  arrangement  of  their  villages.  Most  of  these  vital  matters  are 
left  to  the  chance  concern  of  a  missionary  who  happens  to  have  personal  interest  in 
such  affairs  or  to  the  natural  imitative  qualities  of  the  Native  people.  The  regular  pro- 
gram of  the  school  tends  to  convince  the  pupil  that  the  real  purpose  of  the  school  is  to 
teach  the  formal  subjects  of  the  schoolroom  and  that  the  elements  of  home  life  are  only 
the  incidents  of  the  school  life.  The  pupil  therefore  leaves  the  school  with  the  convic- 
tion that  his  chief  end  in  life  is  to  impart  the  information  he  has  received  in  the  school- 
room. In  suggesting  the  various  forms  of  educational  adaptation  required,  none  seem 
more  important  than  those  that  pertain  to  the  participation  of  both  boys  and  girls 
in  the  improvement  of  home  life.  The  more  immediate  needs  in  this  direction  are  in- 
dicated herewith: 

1.  Schools  for  Native  peoples  should  provide  such  instruction  as  will  convince  the 
pupils  that  the  home  facilities  for  eating  and  sleeping  must  adhere  to  the  principles 
of  health,  sanitation,  and  comfort.  This,  of  course,  applies  especially  to  boarding 
schools.  The  extent  to  which  these  arrangements  are  neglected  in  some  otherwise 
excellent  schools  has  been  properly  described  by  some  observers  as  shocking.  Proper 
standards  do  not  require  the  introduction  of  European  furniture  and  European  food, 
but  rather  the  better  use  of  existing  facilities  and  the  introduction  of  such  improve- 
ments as  health,  comfort,  and  the  higher  standards  of  living  taught  in  the  school 
demand.  The  supervision  of  these  facilities  must  be  effective  and  equal  to  that  in  any 
other  part  of  the  school. 

2.  Schools  should  endeavor  to  formulate  a  policy  with  regard  to  the  clothing  of 
their  pupils.  The  thoughtless  imitation  of  European  clothing  is  evidently  as  unwise 
as  the  sweeping  condemnation  of  the  Native  attitude  with  regard  to  clothes.  Mission- 
aries and  government  officials  who  have  given  thought  to  this  matter  are  increasingly 
of  the  opinion  that  the  Natives  should  be  persuaded  to  wear  a  simple  costume,  possibly 
a  one-piece  garment  quite  loose  about  the  upper  arm  and  shoulders,  and  extending 
down  in  pantaloon  form  about  the  knees.  The  appearance  and  form  of  such  a  garment 
would  resemble  a  loose-fitting  tunic  and  pantaloons  after  the  order  of  the  "shorts" 
worn  by  English  officers  in  the  tropics.  Such  a  costume  is  subject  to  all  the  variety 
required  by  individual  taste  or  the  demands  of  different  occupations. 

In  the  preparation  of  youth  for  home  life  it  is  evident  that  the  training  of  the  girls 
is  even  more  important  than  that  of  the  boys.  Missionaries  and  educational  leaders 
in  Africa  are  reahzing  more  and  more  that  village  life  cannot  be  effectively  or  perma- 
nently improved  without  a  distinct  elevation  of  African  womanhood.  Though  the 
primitive  state  of  the  people  emphasizes  the  superior  authority  of  the  men  and  accord- 


24 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


ingly  provides  educational  opportunities  first  of  all  for  the  boys,  observers  of  African 
conditions  are  convinced  that  the  influence  of  the  women  is  far  greater  than  is  indi- 
cated by  the  conventions  of  the  tribe  or  the  village.  Even  in  the  general  activities  of 
tribal  life  the  women  are  frequently  the  controlling  force.  They  have  a  large  part, 
if  not  the  largest  part,  in  the  economic  life.  In  most  of  the  pleasure  activities  they  are 
probably  the  chief  factors.  Above  all  they  control  the  character  of  the  home  and  the 
training  of  the  children. 

In  view  of  the  great  importance  of  women  in  African  life,  it  is  rather  surprising 
that  missions  and  schools  have  not  made  more  serious  efforts  to  bring  the  girls  into  the 
schools  and  to  provide  suitable  training  for  them.  The  chief  reason  for  this  apparent 
neglect  is  probably  the  indifference  and  sometimes  the  opposition  of  the  Native  people 
themselves  to  the  education  of  their  girls.  Schools  have  followed  the  lines  of  least  re- 
sistance, accepting  the  boys  who  have  applied  or  who  have  been  offered  by  the  tribes. 
Several  schools  for  Native  girls  were  observed  in  the  colonies  visited.  While  they  are 
few  in  number  as  compared  with  those  for  boys,  the  quality  of  adaptation  in  them  is 
better  than  in  the  boys'  schools.  A  few  are  really  notable  for  the  effective  character 
of  their  work,  ranking  among  the  best  schools  of  Africa.  For  descriptions  of  these 
schools  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  colonial  chapters.  The  following  suggestions  indi- 
cate some  of  the  main  lines  of  development  for  the  education  of  African  women  and 
girls : 

1.  All  school  systems  should  make  a  special  effort  to  bring  to  their  schools  a  full 
proportion  of  the  girls  of  the  community.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  success  of  the 
Basel  Mission  Schools  of  the  Gold  Coast  in  this  respect,  the  number  of  girls  in  these 
schools  almost  equalling  the  number  of  boys.  This  proportion  may  be  attained  by  an 
appeal  to  the  parents  in  behalf  of  the  girls.  In  tribes  where  there  is  hostility  to  the 
education  of  young  women,  it  may  be  necessary  to  build  special  schools  like  the  one 
described  at  Aro  Chuku,  Nigeria,  where  the  whole  effort  of  the  school  is  directed  to  the 
formation  of  better  attitudes  with  regard  to  the  life  of  women  and  girls. 

2.  The  plan  of  certain  missions  to  maintain  one  or  more  boarding  schools  for 
girls  should  be  encouraged.  In  such  schools  all  the  instruction  and  every  activity  in 
the  institution  can  be  planned  directly  for  the  special  needs  of  the  young  women. 
These  schools  will  necessarily  be  concerned  first  of  all  with  the  preparation  of  food; 
second,  with  household  comforts;  third,  with  the  care  and  feeding  of  children  and  the 
occupations  that  are  suited  to  the  interests  and  ability  of  women. 

3.  Educational  policy  in  Africa  has  hitherto  been  opposed  to  coeducation  in 
boarding  schools.  There  is  much  to  support  this  attitude.  The  first  steps  in  the  direc- 
tion of  coeducation  are  to  be  found  in  Lovedale  in  South  Africa  and  in  a  few  other 
schools  where  the  institutions  for  the  girls  are  located  in  different  parts  of  the  grounds, 
with  coeducation  activities  limited  to  a  few  of  the  advanced  pupils.  In  the  course  of 
time  it  is  probable  that  African  schools  will  adopt  the  policy  of  coeducation  now  in- 
creasingly recognized  throughout  the  world.  The  adoption  of  the  coeducational 
arrangements  must  be  conditioned  upon  very  complete  and  effective  supervision  in 


ADAITATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 


25 


every  part  of  the  school  life.  While  the  advantages  of  coeducation  are  real  and  sub- 
stantial, the  difficulties  of  supervision  and  organization  are  greatly  increased. 

Recreation  or  the  Use  of  Leisure  Time 

Training  in  the  proper  use  of  leisure  time  is  by  no  means  a  luxury.  It  is  generally 
agreed  that  many  natives  are  undermining  their  health  and  their  morals  through  a 
failure  to  use  their  non-working  time  in  activities  that  build  up  their  bodies  and  their 
character.  It  is  not  enough  to  teach  the  Natives  to  work  effectively.  They  must  also 
be  taught  to  play  healthfully.  Amusements  that  are  physically  or  emotionally  ener- 
vating should  be  replaced  by  games  that  require  skill  and  mental  alertness  and  co- 
operation. It  is  well  known  that  sex  indulgence  and  wild  forms  of  emotion  are  all  too 
general  in  the  life  of  primitive  peoples.  The  African  tribes  are  no  exception.  Among 
the  most  effective  methods  of  correcting  the  existing  unfortunate  and  dangerous  forms 
of  amusements  is  the  substitution  of  pleasure  activities  in  which  the  Native  community 
can  engage  to  the  advantage  of  physical  morals  and  morale.  Some  missions  have  al- 
ready begun  to  introduce  natural  and  amusing  games  that  have  worked  great  good  not 
only  to  the  boys  and  girls  but  to  the  adults  of  village  communities.  The  experience 
of  missions  and  government  in  the  Philippine  Islands  demonstrates  the  ease  with  which 
pupils  and  communities  may  be  taught  to  play  with  excellent  results  to  the  social 
groups.  While  European  and  American  recreation  will  furnish  many  examples  and 
suggestions,  it  will  be  necessary  to  study  carefully  the  possibilities  of  adopting  Native 
games  or  modifying  them  so  that  the  harmful  may  be  eUminated  and  the  helpful  may 
be  emphasized.  Among  the  more  fruitful  fields  of  research  in  Native  recreation  are 
the  games  and  ceremonies  of  tribal  life. 

Languages  of  Instruction 

No  phase  of  educational  adaptation  requires  more  careful  consideration  than  the 
languages  of  instruction.  The  multiplicity  of  Native  dialects  and  languages  in  every 
African  colony  presents  one  of  the  most  perplexing  problems  confronting  those  in- 
terested in  the  education  of  the  Native  Africans.  Some  of  these  languages  are  spoken 
by  great  masses  of  Natives.  Others  are  used  only  by  a  very  small  number  of  people. 
Some  of  the  languages  are  quite  fully  developed,  with  a  considerable  vocabulary,  often 
capable  of  expressing  subtle  and  delicate  shades  of  meaning.  Others  are  mere  dialects, 
crude  and  inadequate  to  express  even  the  simplest  ideas  of  civilization.  All  this  com- 
plexity of  language  is  made  more  puzzling  by  the  general  conviction  that  at  least  the 
Native  leaders  of  Africa  should  know  one  European  language  as  a  means  of  access  to 
the  great  accomplishments  and  inspirations  of  civilization.  It  is  therefore  necessary 
that  educators  determine  at  the  start  what  the  languages  of  instruction  shall  be  in  the 
schools  entrusted  to  them. 

The  elements  to  be  considered  in  determining  the  languages  of  instruction  are 
(1)  that  every  people  have  an  inherent  right  to  their  Native  tongue;  (2)  that  the 
multiplicity  of  tongues  shall  not  be  such  as  to  develop  misunderstandings  and  dis- 
trust among  people  who  should  be  friendly  and  cooperative;  (3)  that  every  group  shall 


26 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


be  able  to  communicate  directly  with  those  to  whom  the  government  is  entrusted;  and 
(4)  that  an  increasing  number  of  Native  people  shall  know  at  least  one  of  the  languages 
of  the  civilized  nations.  In  determining  the  weight  of  each  of  these  elements  it  is  of 
course  necessary  to  ascertain  the  local  conditions.  It  is  clear  that  there  is  compara- 
tively little,  if  any  advantage,  in  the  continuation  of  a  crude  dialect  with  practically 
no  powers  of  expression.  It  is  also  evident  that  the  need  for  a  common  language 
is  not  essential  to  a  large  group  of  people  speaking  the  same  language  and 
hving  under  conditions  that  do  not  require  much  intercommunication.  It  may 
even  be  true  that  some  one  of  the  Native  languages  may  be  so  highly  developed  as 
to  make  possible  the  translation  of  the  great  works  of  civilization  into  that  language. 
With  due  consideration  for  all  of  these  elements  and  the  modifying  circum- 
stances, the  following  recommendations  are  offered  as  suggestions  to  guide  govern- 
ments and  educators  in  determining  the  usual  procedure  in  most  African  colonies: 

1.  The  tribal  language  should  be  used  in  the  lower  elementary  standards  or  grades. 

2.  A  lingua  franca  of  African  origin  should  be  introduced  in  the  middle  classes  of 
the  school  if  the  area  is  occupied  by  large  Native  groups  speaking  diverse  languages. 

3.  The  language  of  the  European  nation  in  control  should  be  taught  in  the  upper 
standards. 

Conventional  School  Subjects 

Even  the  usual  subjects  of  instruction  should  not  escape  the  tests  of  adaptation 
to  the  needs  of  the  individual  and  of  the  community.  The  more  important  of  these 
subjects  are  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  geography  in  the  elementary  grades; 
the  physical  and  social  sciences,  history,  literature,  and  mathematics  in  the  higher 
standards.  Hitherto  these  subjects  have  constituted  the  overwhelming  proportion  of 
the  school  curricula,  and  they  have  been  too  largely  taught  on  the  traditional  basis 
determined  by  the  requirements  of  urban  and  commercial  activities  in  Europe  and 
America.  Educational  slavery  has  been  painfully  apparent  both  in  the  retention  of 
certain  conventional  subjects  that  have  excluded  others  much  more  applicable  to  life, 
and  in  the  teaching  of  a  subject  content  that  should  long  ago  have  given  way  to  results 
of  modern  research  related  to  the  hfe  of  the  pupils.  This  has  been  especially  noticeable 
in  the  curricula  of  secondary  schools,  whose  subjects  have  been  determined  by  the 
demands  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  Local  Examinations  in  the  British  colonies,  and 
matriculation  requirements  of  European  and  American  colleges  and  universities  in 
other  colonies.  In  defense  of  these  secondary  schools  it  must  be  stated  that  their 
course  has  been  justified  so  far  as  it  has  been  necessary  to  prepare  Native  students  to 
meet  the  conventional  requirements  of  professional  schools  in  Europe  and  America. 
The  unfortunate  element  of  the  policy  is  that  they  have  compelled  all  the  secondary 
pupils  to  take  subjects  required  only  by  the  few  who  may  proceed  to  European  uni- 
versities. Thus  the  excessive  emphasis  on  classical  languages  has  excluded  proper 
provision  in  physical  science,  social  studies,  and  other  phases  of  modern  research  so 
vital  to  humanity. 

It  is  not  strange  that  educational  workers  from  Europe  and  America  should  have 


ADAPTATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 


27 


transferred  the  methods  and  content  of  their  home  schools  to  Africa.  Overwhohncd 
by  the  new  responsibihtics  confronting  them,  these  educators  were  probably  compelled 
to  precede  with  what  they  believed  to  be  sound  in  their  own  countries.  It  requires 
time  and  ability  to  change  educational  methods.  Many  of  them  still  have  unquestion- 
ing faith  in  the  subject  matter  taught  in  the  schools  of  their  own  childhood,  and  are 
inclined  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  suiting  their  teachings  to  the  special  needs  of  a  country 
and  a  people  so  different  and  in  many  respects  so  inferior  to  the  civilized  standards  of 
their  native  lands.  Whatever  the  justification  of  the  methods  followed  by  the  pioneers 
of  education,  it  is  certain  that  the  content  of  such  elementary  school  subjects  as  arith- 
metic and  reading  should  now  be  concerned  with  the  problems  and  interests  of  Native 
villages  and  African  life  rather  than  with  the  arithmetical  calculations  of  London, 
Paris,  or  New  York.  Wlierever  possible  the  African  youth  should  have  an  opportunity 
to  learn  the  achievements  of  men  of  African  origin  and  to  realize  the  wealth  and  beauty 
of  their  Native  continent.  Though  the  literature  concerning  Africa  is  as  yet  relatively 
limited,  there  are  books  of  international  note  concerning  men  of  African  origin  and 
Euroj)eans  who  have  devoted  their  lives  in  behalf  of  Africa.  Significant  changes  are  now 
being  made  in  the  content  of  history.  The  stories  of  wars  are  no  longer  regarded  as  the 
most  important  features  of  the  history  of  any  people.  Surely  history  courses  for 
African  pupils  should  help  them  to  understand  that  the  essential  features  of  human 
development  are  rooted  in  the  economic,  social,  and  spiritual  development  of  the  people 
as  a  whole.  The  conventional  subjects  of  the  school  curricula  have  evidently  been  too 
much  concerned  with  the  power  of  the  pupil  to  exhibit  knowledge  rather  than  to  under- 
stand the  creative  forces  of  life  and  to  obtain  such  control  of  these  forces  as  to  enable 
him  to  make  his  contribution  to  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  world. 


Character  Development  and  Religious  Life 

The  most  important  ends  of  education  are  the  character  development  and  religious 
life  of  the  pupils.  The  imparting  of  information  and  the  development  of  any  kind 
of  skill  are  secondary  to  sound  character  and  inteUigent  religious  faith.  Every 
phase  of  adaptation  described  above  presupposes  a  proper  appreciation  of  character 
development  and  religion  as  factors  in  the  life  of  the  individual.  Every  educational 
act  should  so  far  as  possible  contribute  directly  to  the  formation  of  sound  habits  of 
life.  The  teacher  should  have  clearly  in  mind  the  habits  that  are  especially  re- 
quired to  correct,  control,  and  guide  the  emotional  activities  characteristic  of  the 
African  people.  He  should  also  know  the  superstitions,  traditions,  and  tribal  customs 
that  determine  and  limit  the  character  life  of  the  Native  African.  The  simple  virtues 
urged  as  educational  ends  by  mission  and  government  teachers  are  perseverance, 
thoroughness,  order,  cleanhness,  punctuality,  thrift,  temperance,  self-control,  reliabil- 
ity, honesty,  and  respect  for  parents.  The  development  of  these  virtues  is  much  more 
effectively  accomplished  through  sound  habits  resulting  from  days,  weeks,  and  months 
of  repetition,  than  through  verbal  exhortation.  The  school  life  of  the  pupils,  including 
the  dormitory  and  boarding  necessities,  the  forms  of  recreation,  and  the  use  of  biog- 


28 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


rapliies  of  great  personalities,  especially  those  of  African  origin,  are  among  the  most 
effective  means  of  character  development. 

Most  fundamental  of  all  is  the  recognition  of  the  power  of  religion  in  education 
and  in  life.  The  Native  African  is  intensely  religious  according  to  his  own  ideas  of 
religion.  He  has  a  vivid  consciousness  of  unknown  forces  controlling  his  life.  Unfor- 
tunately this  consciousness  is  too  frequently  that  of  a  horrible  fear  that  limits  his  life 
and  frequently  compels  him  even  to  be  cruel  to  himself  and  to  those  about  him.  Chris- 
tian education  must  change  this  natural  interest  of  the  African  so  that  he  may  under- 
stand that  God  has  a  fatherly  interest  in  him  and  in  every  phase  of  his  life  and  seeks  to 
help  him  to  the  best  of  life.  The  Christian  religion  cannot  therefore  be  limited  to  the 
Sunday  services  or  the  devotional  exercises  at  the  opening  of  school  or  even  to  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Bible.  Every  school  activity  should  contribute  to  a  more  real  appreciation 
of  God  in  life.  The  teaching  of  health  is  the  teaching  of  a  proper  regard  for  the  body, 
described  by  Paul  as  "the  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  The  cultivation  of  the  soil  is  co- 
working  with  God.  Thus  every  school  act  and  every  act  in  life  should  have  a  religious 
significance.  Education  is  therefore  not  merely  the  imparting  of  facts  but  the  interpre- 
tation of  Divinity  in  human  affairs.  While  the  love  of  God  can  be  understood  even  by 
the  unlearned,  there  is  no  limit  to  the  education  required  to  understand  the  extent  and 
variety  of  God's  love  in  the  world. 

ADAPTATION  IN  COMMUNITY  EDUCATION 

The  student  of  the  social  significance  of  education  is  often  surprised  by  the  failure 
of  many  educators  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the  term  "community  school." 
The  term  seems  especially  novel  to  those  who  have  been  trained  in  European  schools. 
It  is  probable  that  the  pioneer  conditions  through  which  America  has  only  recently 
passed  explain  the  larger  influence  accorded  to  the  school  in  the  community  life  of 
America.  In  the  older  civilization  of  Europe  the  school  has  been  but  one  of  many  insti- 
tutions sharing  the  responsibility  for  the  general  development  of  the  social  group  in 
which  it  was  placed.  The  division  of  educational  responsibility  in  Europe  assigned  to 
the  school  a  comparatively  limited  field  of  responsibility  for  certain  facts  and  activi- 
ties which  the  pupils  were  supposed  to  have  as  equipment  for  life  in  their  communities. 
The  school  activities  were  further  determined  by  the  fact  that  they  were  usually  located 
in  urban  areas.  In  pioneer  America,  on  the  contrary,  the  school  had  almost  a  monop- 
oly of  the  training  of  the  youth  and  to  some  extent  of  the  community.  Its  location  in 
the  open  country  amidst  an  agricultural  people  resulted  in  a  number  of  changes  in  its 
curriculum  and  its  general  policies.  Even  though  these  changes  were  often  the  result 
of  unconscious  recog-nition  of  its  rural  environment,  they  have  been  none  the  less  real. 
In  recent  years  students  of  education  have  recognized  the  importance  of  these  rural 
adaptations  and  they  have  encouraged  and  even  urged  their  extension  into  every  part 
of  the  country.  The  value  of  the  rural  appHcations  of  education  was  also  discovered 
in  connection  with  the  training  of  the  Negroes  in  the  rural  districts  of  the  southern 
states  of  America.   It  is  probable  that  the  methods  of  rural  education  organized  by 


ADAPTATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 


29 


Hampton  and  Tuskegee,  and  extended  by  such  educational  agencies  as  the  General 
Education  Board,  the  Jeanes  and  Slater  Funds,  and  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture,  are  the  most  significant  of  all  for  those  who  have  the  responsibility  for  the 
education  of  colonial  Africa.  Students  of  the  community  extensions  of  education  will 
do  well  to  study  the  methods  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  great 
agricultural  colleges  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and  the  rural  movements  in  be- 
half of  American  Negroes. 

The  urban  character  of  much  of  the  educational  work  in  Africa  has  been  discussed 
in  connection  with  the  education  of  the  individual.  The  urban  influence  is  even  more 
apparent  in  the  lack  of  community  extensions  to  the  Native  villages.  The  disregard 
of  the  agricultural  and  village  needs  of  the  interior  country  was  further  emphasized 
by  the  fact  that  the  mission  and  government  schools  were  usually  started  in  the  coast 
towns  and  cities.  Native  teachers  were  trained  under  conditions  resembling  those  of 
the  European  cities  from  which  missionaries  and  government  officials  had  come. 
So  prevalent  is  this  condition  in  some  of  the  West  Coast  colonies  as  to  cause  the  gover- 
nor of  one  of  the  French  colonies  to  express  the  wish  to  the  Education  Commission 
that  missions  and  schools  could  have  entered  the  colony  from  the  interior  rather  than 
through  the  coast  cities.  In  this  connection  it  must  be  recognized  that  the  unfortunate 
elements  of  urban  communities  are  by  no  means  limited  to  the  urban  character  of  the 
schools.  Too  frequently  the  coast  cities  include  conditions  that  make  for  the  degenera- 
tion of  the  Native  people  who  come  to  live  in  them.  At  best  they  are  likely  to  develop 
false  notions  of  life  and  a  permanent  separation  from  the  Native  life  of  the  interior. 
Fortunately  a  number  of  missions  in  different  parts  of  Africa  have  begun  their  work  in 
the  interior.  The  advantage  of  their  location  is  emphatically  apparent  even  to  the 
casual  observer.  Such  approaches  to  the  African  colonies  should  be  encouraged.  It 
must  be  said,  however,  that  even  these  interior  stations  too  often  reflect  the  urban 
origin  of  their  educational  methods.  In  urging  the  adaptations  of  education  to  com- 
munity needs  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  rural  and  urban  communities  are  alike  to  be 
considered.  Native  Africans  are  living  under  both  urban  and  rural  conditions  and  re- 
quire education  suited  to  their  life  needs  in  both  situations.  The  emphasis  given  above 
to  the  rural  community  is  due  to  the  fact  that  Africa  is  overwhelmingly  rural  in  char- 
acter and  that  urban  education  has  been  superimposed  upon  rural  areas.  Nor  is  it  to 
be  understood  that  education  is  to  be  so  specialized  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  the 
youth  of  one  section  to  enter  effectively  into  the  activities  of  another.  The  following 
illustrations  of  educational  adaptation  in  rural  and  urban  communities  are  presented 
as  suggestive  of  school  activities  that  may  be  modified  to  suit  the  needs  of  African  Ufe. 

Rural  Community  Education 

The  first  step  in  the  adaptation  of  education  to  the  needs  of  rural  communities  is  a 
genuine  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  rural  life  in  the  general  development  of 
Africa.  The  following  words  of  General  Armstrong,  founder  of  Hampton  Institute, 
are  even  more  applicable  to  African  conditions  than  they  were  to  those  of  the  American 
Negro  when  they  were  spoken : 


so 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Tlie  temporal  salvation  of  Negroes  for  some  time  to  come  is  to  be  won  out  of  the  ground.  Teaching  and 
farming  go  well  together  in  the  present  condition  of  things.  The  teacher-farmer  is  the  man  for  the  times. 
He  is  essentially  an  educator  throughout  the  year. 

Next  to  a  genuine  appreciation  of  rural  life  is  the  demand  for  a  clearly  defined  pro- 
gram of  school  and  community  activities  for  the  improvement  of  the  African  villages. 
Recommendations  have  been  offered  in  a  previous  section  for  the  training  of  the  indi- 
vidual in  the  effective  use  of  the  rural  environment.  In  addition  to  the  training  of  the 
individual,  it  is  important  that  the  school  shall  be  organized  so  that  its  activities  also 
extend  out  into  the  homes  and  institutions  of  the  community.  A  complete  program  for 
rural  education  may  also  require  the  assistance  of  educational  activities  that  are  planned 
and  supported  by  the  government  or  private  concerns  not  immediately  responsible  for 
the  schools.  There  is  indeed  a  possibility  that  the  variety  and  extent  of  community  re- 
sponsibilities may  overwhelm  the  school.  For  this  reason  it  is  well  to  keep  clearly  in 
mind  the  resources  of  the  schools  and  to  limit  the  activities  planned  so  that  the  im- 
possible will  not  be  attempted.  The  types  of  educational  activities  that  have  been  suc- 
cessfully tried  in  some  parts  of  Africa  or  other  continents  are  described  herewith: 

1.  Every  part  of  the  school  curriculum  may  be  made  to  contribute  to  an  increased 
respect  for  an  interest  in  the  rural  environment  of  the  school.  Reading  lessons  may  in- 
clude appreciation  of  the  substantial  worth  and  beauty  of  the  open  country.  Arith- 
metic may  give  liberal  portions  of  time  to  calculations  related  to  the  transactions  of  the 
village  market  and  the  economic  elements  of  agricultural  exchange.  Illustrations  might 
be  given  of  rural  schools  in  different  parts  of  the  world  that  have  made  their  curricula 
vital  by  bringing  into  the  schoolroom  the  actual  problems  of  the  field,  the  dairy,  the 
barn,  the  market,  and  the  home.  There  are  also  the  economic  and  social  advantages 
of  roads  and  the  practical  problems  of  engineering  in  the  building  of  highways  and 
bridges.  The  study  of  hygiene  and  sanitation  in  the  open  country  invites  the  best 
thought  of  pupil  and  teacher.  In  the  boarding  school  the  community  lessons  can  be 
used  to  even  greater  advantage  than  in  the  day  school.  The  extent  of  the  interchange 
between  the  school  and  the  community  is  hmited  only  by  the  strength  and  ingenuity  of 
the  teacher  and  the  possibilities  of  the  school  plant.  The  desire  to  make  the  school 
conscious  of  the  community  must  never  make  the  teacher  liable  to  the  charge  of 
superficiality  or  artificiality  in  the  tasks  undertaken. 

2.  The  natural  outcome  of  a  school  whose  curriculum  reflects  genuine  interest 
in  its  community  is  the  organization  of  activities  without  the  schoolroom  that  blend 
intimately  with  the  life  of  the  groups  from  whom  the  pupils  come.  The  appearance 
and  state  of  repair  of  the  school  building  and  the  order  and  neatness  of  the  schoolyard 
will  be  such  as  to  exert  an  influence  on  those  who  pass  by.  The  schoolroom  type  will 
give  way  to  the  school-home  type.  To  the  classroom  there  will  be  added  rooms  where 
home  activities  will  be  taught.  The  teacher's  home  may  become  a  part  of  the  school 
plant.  Teachers  and  pupils  will  combine  in  an  effort  to  work  out  the  lessons  of  the 
home,  the  garden,  the  playground,  and  every  phase  of  rural  life.  Thus  will  the  school- 
home  merge  into  the  village  homes  and  become  a  leaven  for  the  transformation  of  the 
community. 


ADAPTATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 


81 


3.  Probably  the  most  uni(iue  form  of  community  cducjition  in  rural  districts  is 
the  "Movable  School"  used  so  effectively  by  Tuskegee  Institute  in  carrying  the  influ- 
ence of  that  great  institution  among  the  American  Negroes  of  the  rural  districts.  The 
school  has  had  various  forms  in  the  course  of  its  development  and  it  is  still  used  in 
different  ways  to  suit  the  needs  of  different  communities  as  well  as  to  suit  the  equip- 
ment and  personnel  of  the  institution  responsible  for  the  undertaking.  The  following 
quotations  present  the  essential  elements  of  the  school  as  they  have  appeared  to  com- 
petent observers:* 

The  first  step  in  planning  for  a  Movable  School  is  to  send  out  an  agent  to  a  neighboring  community  to 
arrange  for  the  coming  of  the  school.  This  agent  consults  the  local  preacher,  the  teacher,  and  other  com- 
munity leaders.  The  plan  is  explained  to  them  and  they  agree  to  begin  the  school  on  a  certain  day,  and  to 
continue  it  for  three,  four,  or  five,  days  as  circumstances  permit.  The  time  is  selected  with  due  regard  for  the 
weather  and  the  condition  of  the  crops.  As  the  farm  homes  in  America  are  usually  widely  distributed,  the 
distance  varying  from  a  half-mile  to  a  mile  apart,  a  farm  home  is  selected  as  the  center  for  the  demonstration. 
The  farmer  and  his  wife  agree  to  have  every  part  of  their  home  and  their  farm  used  as  laboratory  for  the 
occasion.  Notices  are  then  sent  out  to  all  the  farmers  situated  at  convenient  distances  from  the  scene  of  the 
school.  At  the  time  agreed  the  teachers  arrive  and  the  people  assemble  to  share  in  the  demonstrations  to  be 
made.  The  teachers  have  brought  with  them  a  variety  of  equipment,  including  whitewash,  paints,  and 
brushes;  a  churn  and  milk  tester;  farm  implements;  first-aid  equipment;  and  other  articles  that  may  be  useful 
in  explaining  the  simple  needs  of  the  home  and  the  farm.  Sometimes  they  bring  with  them  specimens  of  farm 
animals  that  can  conveniently  be  brought  

The  one  which  we  saw  had  been  in  operation  for  three  days  when  we  arrived,  and  already  much  had  been 
set  a-going.  We  reached  the  place  in  the  morning  about  10:30,  after  a  long  motor  ride  over  a  very  rough  and 
dusty  road.  Turning  in  at  the  gate  and  up  a  sandy  path,  the  car  stopped  under  a  tree  and  we  got  out. 
Before  us  was  the  house,  a  wooden  one  with  two  rooms  and  a  central  and  front  veranda.  It  was  in  a  rather 
dilapidated  condition,  and  we  saw  a  group  of  men  busy  repairing  the  steps  and  putting  in  a  new  support  for 
the  roof,  under  the  direction  of  a  teacher.  After  greeting  we  passed  on  to  the  open  central  veranda  where  a 
number  of  women  and  girls  were  busy  at  different  things  under  the  superintendence  of  a  female  teacher.  Two 
or  three  were  working  on  a  bedquilt,  some  more  were  rebottoming  chairs  with  cornshuck  rope,  others  were 
making  cornshuck  straw  hats  or  bags.  On  a  shelf  at  the  side  were  various  articles  that  they  had  been  taught  to 
make  on  previous  days — mugs  with  handles,  made  from  old  tins,  home-made  fly-switches,  sieves,  dishmops, 
fly-traps  of  resin  and  castor  oil,  scoops  and  lots  of  other  small  things,  as  neat  and  ingenious  as  could  be.  There 
were  also  some  basins  with  holes,  which  they  had  been  taught  to  mend  with  melted  rubber  rings  off  old 
bottles,  and  a  fireless  cooker.  No  material  was  used  except  what  all  of  them  could  find  in  and  around  their 
own  homes. 

Passing  out  at  the  back,  we  wandered  over  to  where  a  group  of  men  were  standing.  Two  boards  were 
nailed  to  a  strong  tree  and  a  saw  was  fixed  very  simply  between  them.  One  man  was  setting  it  and  the  others 
watching  with  great  interest.  They  had  never  before  dreamt  of  doing  anything  to  a  saw  which  had  lost  its 
edge,  but  had  just  gone  on  using  it  as  it  was.  It  was  a  new  idea  to  them  to  renew  it.  Presently  the  teacher 
called  all  the  men  round  him  and  began  giving  a  lesson  in  stacking  potatoes.  He  started  by  asking  if  any  of 
them  ever  found  his  potatoes  rotting,  and  one  after  another  said  sadly,  "Sure!"  "Yes,  I  did!"  Very  sympa- 
thetically the  teacher  drew  from  them  details  of  how  they  did  their  stacking,  and  led  them  on  to  see  where 
the  fault  lay.  Then  he  proceeded  to  prepare  a  model  stacking  pit  and  showed  them  how  to  use  it.  He 
invited  questions,  and  answered  patiently  till  the  subject  was  thoroughly  understood.  From  that  they  all 
moved  on  to  a  tree  where  they  had  an  object  lesson  in  pruning,  much  to  the  dismay  of  the  old  farmer  whose 
tree  was  so  drastically  treated,  and  after  that  they  were  taken  on  to  continue  a  lesson  on  sanitary  outhouses 
which  had  been  begun  the  day  before,  and  another  on  how  to  make  a  model  henhouse. 

We  wandered  back  to  the  house  to  see  how  things  were  going  there,  and  found  the  teacher  calling  all  the 
women  together  to  learn  how  to  preserve  eggs.  Earlier  in  the  morning  they  had  been  shown  how  to  sterilize 
the  bottles,  spoons,  etc. — and  now  everything  was  ready.  First  she  drew  from  them  by  questions  how  they 

*Chiefly  from  a  statement  furnished  by  Mrs.  A.  W.  Wilkie,  of  the  Gold  Coast,  Africa. 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


sometimes  had  far  too  many  eggs,  and  other  times  "couhln't  get  them  nohow,"  and  led  them  round  to  seeing 
the  wisdom  of  providing  in  the  fat  times  for  the  k'an  times.  Then  in  the  simplest  way  she  showed  them  how 
to  preserve  the  eggs  in  water-glass,  using  only  things  which  every  one  of  them  would  have. 

Leaving  them  again  for  the  men,  they  were  found  deep  in  a  lesson  on  how  to  choose  corn  for  seed,  and 
after  that  again  came  a  demonstration  on  fertilizing  the  soil,  another  on  making  a  decent  path  from  the  gate 
to  the  door,  with  some  shrubs  planted  for  decoration. 

At  this  stage  "feeding-time"  arrived,  and  from  every  corner  baskets  were  produced.  All  the  women  had 
brought  enough  for  themselves  and  their  husbands  and  a  little  over,  so  there  was  no  stint.  Children  also 
appeared  on  the  scene  bringing  baskets,  many  of  them  carrying  the  little  mugs  they  had  been  taught  to  make 
from  old  tins.  They  were  inordinately  proud  of  these!  We  lunched  on  cold  chicken  and  excellent  pumpkin 
pie,  cake,  and  fruit.  We  noticed  one  old  man  sitting  near  us  who  was  so  delighted  with  his  newly-set  saw  that 
he  started  trying  its  edge  on  a  ladder,  and  he  was  so  overjoyed  with  its  efficiency  that  he  had  made  quite  a 
deep  score  before  he  thought  of  the  ladder's  feelings! 

For  our  benefit,  as  we  had  to  leave  earlj',  a  programme  of  games  which  should  have  come  later  in  the  day, 
was  taken  after  lunch.  The  teacher  started  by  a  few  simple  words  about  the  importance  of  good  healthy  play 
as  well  as  work,  and  then  there  was  a  men's  race,  in  which  they  had  to  take  off  their  boots  and  run  in  their 
socks,  coming  back  to  where  their  boots  were,  and  picking  out  their  own  from  the  muddled  heap  into  which 
they  had  meantime  been  stirred,  put  them  on  and  lace  them  up.  When  one  saw  the  mixture  of  sand  and  boots 
one  almost  expected  a  protest,  instead  of  which  several  who  had  stood  by  watching  insisted  on  joining  in  too, 
and  the  whole-hearted  fervor  with  which  they  entered  into  the  search  for  their  boots,  and  the  breathless  haste 
with  which  they  laced  them  up,  showed  how  thoroughly  they  enjoyed  the  fun.  They  were  taught  another 
excellent  game  of  ball,  which  gave  good  exercise,  much  amusement,  and  a  splendid  opportunity  of  training 
them  to  lose  a  game  gracefully.  At  the  end  they  were  asked  not  only  to  pass  on  all  that  they  were  learning 
day  by  day  but  to  teach  others  these  games,  and  to  have  a  good  lively  half-hour  of  play  every  evening  on 
their  own  farms. 

We  left  feeling  that  it  would  have  been  worth  coming  hundreds  of  miles  only  to  see  that  mass  of  eager 
dark  faces  in  which  a  new  joy  of  life  and  work  was  dawning  with  the  coming  of  the  knowledge  brought  to 
them  by  this  wonderful  "Moving  School." 

These  descriptions  indicate  the  variety  of  influences  that  are  possible  when  the 
teaching  force  and  equipment  are  ample.  If  this  method  is  undertaken  by  the  colonial 
governments  in  Africa  or  by  the  strong  mission  boards  the  activities  may  be  as  numer- 
ous as  the  needs  of  the  African  village  require.  The  clustering  of  the  Natives  in  villages 
is  a  real  advantage  for  the  application  of  the  plan  in  Africa  as  against  the  widely  dis- 
tributed farm  homes  in  America.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  movable-school  plan  may 
be  made  possible  through  the  cooperation  of  the  colonial  departments  of  agriculture, 
health,  public  works,  and  education  with  mission  boards  and  possibly  also  with  com- 
mercial concerns.  It  would  be  unfortunate,  however,  if  the  larger  form  of  movable 
school  should  discourage  the  application  of  the  principle  in  small  movable  schools 
possible  to  the  institutions  with  only  two  teachers  available  for  extension  work.  The 
success  of  the  plan  does  not  depend  on  the  variety  of  undertakings  but  upon  the  skill 
of  one  or  two  itinerant  teachers  who  will  go  out  from  the  central  school  to  the  distant 
villages  and  teach  by  doing  the  simple  elements  of  life  needed  by  the  men,  women,  and 
children. 

4.  The  most  important  effort  for  the  improvement  of  the  rural  community  is 
known  in  America  as  the  "farm  demonstration  movement."  The  plan  was  originated 
by  Dr.  Seaman  A.  Knapp,  a  remarkable  agricultural  statesman,  whose  work  was  made 
possible  through  the  financial  aid  and  educational  leadership  of  the  General  Education 


ADAPTATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 


88 


Board.  The  economic  v.aliie  of  the  plan  was  made  clear  to  the  nation,  and  for  some 
years  past  it  has  been  adoj)ted  by  the  United  States  Government  as  one  of  its  most  im- 
portant efforts  in  behalf  of  the  farmers  of  America.  The  purpose  of  the  movement  is 
the  increase  of  the  productivity  of  the  soil,  undoubtedly  the  most  important  end  in 
any  country.  The  fundamental  element  in  the  plan  is  the  principle  that  the  most 
effective  way  of  teaching  good  farming  is  to  prevail  upon  one  farmer  in  every  neigh- 
borhood to  cultivate  an  acre  of  his  land  according  to  scientific  methods  of  agriculture. 
The  effect  of  such  a  plan  has  been  that  the  farmer  with  the  demonstration  acre 
extends  the  plan  to  the  remainder  of  his  farm  and  the  neighboring  farmers  soon 
follow  his  example.  It  has  been  shown  that  such  an  experimental  plat  is  much  more 
effective  than  the  distribution  of  printed  matter  or  even  explanations  by  traveling  lec- 
turers. The  economic  and  educational  significance  of  the  farm-demonstration  move- 
ment is  now  gradully  becoming  understood.  Communities  have  lifted  themselves 
out  of  poverty.  Schools  and  churches  and  roads  have  been  built.  The  general  average 
of  community  welfare  has  been  elevated  in  many  rural  districts.  School  men  have  been 
impressed  with  the  value  of  actual  demonstration  in  instruction  and  the  schools  are 
requiring  that  pupils  shall  "learn  by  doing."  The  details  of  the  plan  have  been  vividly 
presented  by  B.  D.  Gibson  in  the  International  Review  of  Missions  for  July,  1921; 

The  agent  first  locates  the  strategic  points  in  his  district,  then  makes  inquiries  in  these  places  and  finds 
out  in  each  a  man  who  is  approachable,  open  to  new  ideas,  who  enjoys  a  certain  standing  among  his  fellows 
and  whose  land  is  accessible  to  a  large  number  of  the  neighbors.  He  talks  to  this  man  and  persuades  him  to  try 
the  experiment  of  cultivating  a  patch  of  his  land  on  new  methods.  This  farmer  is  called  a  "demonstrator." 
The  agent  then  visits  him  once  a  month  and  the  demonstrator  cultivates  his  plot  under  the  agent's  close 
direction.  The  surrounding  farmers  come  to  the  field  and  meet  the  agent  when  he  comes.  Some  give  in  their 
names  as  willing  to  experiment  also  and  they  are  enrolled  as  "  cooperators."  They  watch  the  experiment  and 
when  they  see  the  increased  yield  under  new  methods  they  begin  to  think  there  must  be  something  in  it  after 
all.  The  agent  drives  home  the  lessons  by  getting  statistical  returns  of  the  yield  and  profits  from  farms  run 
on  the  ordinary  methods,  compares  them  with  the  figures  received  from  the  demonstrator's  plats,  and  sets  out 
a  statement  which  appeals  to  the  most  conservative. 

5.  Closely  connected  with  the  farm-demonstration  movement  is  that  known  as  the 
"home-demonstration  movement."  The  purpose  is  to  enlist  the  interest  of  the  women 
and  the  girls  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  economic  and  social  welfare  of  the  home  and  the 
community.  The  plan  has  been  very  successful  in  the  inculcation  of  sound  ideas  of 
sanitation,  thrift,  and  morality.  The  essential  features  of  the  movement  are  given  in 
the  following  quotation  from  the  article  referred  to  above: 

At  first  there  were  only  men  agents,  but  it  was  not  long  before  it  was  realized  that  the  rural  problems 
could  not  be  solved  without  the  women,  that  it  was  no  use  showing  the  farmer  how  to  make  more  money 
from  his  crops  if  his  wife  did  not  know  how  to  improve  the  standard  of  living  at  home  and  benefit  from  the 
extra  money.  The  women  agents  are  chiefly  concerned  with  all  that  affects  the  home.  There  has  thus  been 
developed  a  second  branch  of  the  rural  extension  work,  namely,  home  demonstration.  As  the  men  are 
engaged  in  showing  the  farmer  how  to  grow  more  and  better  corn,  the  women  agents  are  showing  his  wife 
how  to  cook  it  better,  how  to  balance  meals  and  vary  dishes.  The  home  garden  usually  falls  into  the  woman's 
province  and  the  woman  agent  gives  hints  as  to  how  it  can  be  made  to  yield  food  all  the  year  round  and  how 
the  vegetables  can  be  preserved  for  seasons  when  they  are  scarce.  These  home-demonstration  agents  are 
mostly  women  who  have  been  teachers  and  who  have  taken  a  short  special-training  course  in  addition  to  their 
teacher  training.  The  organization  corresponds  exactly  to  that  of  the  men,  namely,  state  agents  with  county 


84 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


agents  under  them,  and  they  work  in  tlie  closest  eooperation  with  them  under  the  state  extension  work 
director. 

The  woman  agent  brings  new  ideas  for  hibor-saving  and  money-saving — simple  suggestions  for  making 
out  of  the  common  materials  that  abound  on  every  farm  some  of  the  necessaries  that  would  otherwise  have  to 
be  bought  at  much  expense  and  trouble  from  the  distant  town,  and  even  some  of  the  comforts  which  would 
otherwise  be  unknown.  She  holds  demonstrations  at  the  home  of  one  of  the  farmers,  and  the  neighbors  come 
bringing  their  share  of  the  necessary  materials  so  that  each  may  make  the  experiment  for  herself  and  prove 
its  value.  Occasions  often  arise  also  which  enable  the  agent  to  give  suggestions  as  to  the  general  care  of  the 
home,  ventilation,  and  care  of  the  sick.  She  also  organizes  poultry  clubs  for  women  and  girls,  the  members 
reporting  at  each  meeting  the  success  of  their  work,  the  number  of  eggs,  and  the  number  of  chickens  raised. 

6.  To  complete  the  circle  of  the  rural  family,  the  schools  and  the  government 
have  combined  to  encourage  the  organizations  of  farm-makers'  clubs  for  the  boys. 
These  clubs  are  divided  into  two  classes,  those  that  are  concerned  with  the  growing  of 
crops  and  those  that  have  to  do  with  the  raising  of  livestock.  The  crop  clubs  include 
the  staple  articles  of  production  in  the  neighborhood.  The  livestock  clubs  give  special 
attention  to  the  small  animals  that  can  easily  be  maintained  by  farmers  of  small 
means.  The  application  of  this  plan  in  the  neighborhood  of  Tuskegee  Institute  is  well 
described  in  the  following  paragraph  from  the  article  already  quoted: 

There  are  boys'  pig  and  corn  clubs  organized  under  the  supervision  of  a  state  club  agent  for  Negro  boys. 
These  clubs  are  carried  on  by  the  men  county  agents  with  the  assistance  of  the  rural  school  teacher  and  in 
holiday  time  of  a  local  leader.  Each  boy  gets  his  father  to  let  him  have  a  little  pig  or  a  small  plot  of  ground 
or  both.  The  boy  is  then  responsible  for  the  purchase  of  food  and  seed  and  for  the  subsequent  welfare  of  his 
pig  or  corn  plot.  He  keeps  a  record  of  all  transactions,  and  the  final  profit  goes  into  his  own  pocket.  Prizes 
are  often  given  for  the  finest  pig  and  the  largest  number  of  bushels  of  corn  per  acre.  Last  summer  the 
Alabama  agents  were  asked  to  pick  out  the  brightest  boys  and  girls  in  their  clubs  and  bring  them  up  to 
Tuskegee  for  ten  days  for  a  short  course  of  agricultural  instruction.  Ninety-five  came  and  for  those  ten  days 
were  part  of  the  institution.  The  impression  was  profound  and  a  large  number  stayed  on  as  regular  students. 
They  had  many  of  them  come  up  from  the  backwoods  and  had  heard  very  little  before  of  Tuskegee,  and  its 
work  and  ideals. 

7.  In  connection  with  the  acti\4ties  above  described  it  is  urged  that  provision  be 
made  for  the  religious  life  of  the  rural  community.  Such  schools  as  Tuskegee  and  other 
institutions  concerned  with  the  welfare  of  the  American  Negro  recognize  fully  the  im- 
portance of  religion  as  a  fundamental  force  in  such  movements  as  the  movable  school, 
farm  and  home  demonstration,  and  rural  clubs.  The  missions  in  Africa  will,  of  course, 
make  religion  the  most  vital  part  of  their  plans.  The  important  consideration  in  organ- 
izing the  economic,  social,  and  educational  movements  recommended  is  that  they  shall 
be  made  to  contribute  directly  to  the  religious  life  of  the  rural  community.  In  the 
most  successful  of  these  activities  in  America  the  religious  leader  of  the  community  is 
always  an  essential  factor.  Schools  and  clubs  work  with  religious  organizations  and 
contribute  to  their  influence  for  the  spiritual  growth  of  the  Native  village. 

Though  village  conditions  in  Africa  differ  in  many  respects  from  those  in  America 
where  these  activities  have  had  great  influence  for  the  improvement  of  rural  life,  the 
resemblances  are  sufficiently  numerous  and  real  to  warrant  the  behef  that  the  plans 
above  described  may  be  adapted  to  colonial  conditions  in  Africa.  Some  observers  who 
know  Africa  and  who  have  visited  certain  sections  of  the  American  states  where  the 


ADAI'TATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 


86 


Negroes  form  a  large  proportion  of  the  j)opu]ation  have  maintained  that  the  conditions 
are  strikingly  similar.  This  is  notably  true  of  St.  Helena  Island  off  the  coast  of  South 
Carolina,  where  the  population  is  composed  of  6,000  Negroes  and  only  50  white  people. 
The  belief  in  the  possibilities  of  these  plans  for  Africa  is  further  supported  by  numer- 
ous activities  which  missions  and  governments  have  already  begun  in  some  of  the 
colonies. 

Urban  Community  Education 

Though  conventional  school  curricula  are  largely  based  upon  the  demands  of  urban 
life  and  commercial  activities,  there  is  ample  need  for  adapting  the  school  work  to  the 
daily  life  of  the  urban  groups.  The  various  reforms  urged  on  behalf  of  the  city  schools 
of  Europe  and  America  are  evidence  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  curricula  and  influence 
of  the  present  school  systems.  The  demands  for  change  have  come  from  those  who  are 
conscious  of  the  dangers  to  health  and  morals  arising  from  the  congestion  of  popula- 
tion, of  the  discontent  created  by  the  group  who  enter  "blind-alley  occupations"  and 
are  therefore  not  prepared  to  share  effectively  in  the  industries  of  the  city,  and  of  many 
other  perplexities  that  are  peculiar  to  the  ever-increasing  masses  of  the  cities. 

Fortunately  the  urban  groups  of  Africa  are  comparatively  few  in  number.  They 
are,  however,  of  real  significance  in  the  life  of  every  colony.  As  the  commercial  and 
political  headquarters  they  exert  a  wide  and  vital  influence  upon  the  interior  peoples. 
The  Education  Commission  was  warned  by  the  thoughtful  leaders  of  both  the  Natives 
and  the  Europeans  that  the  urban  groups  must  be  helpfully  educated  or  they  would 
become  the  "poison  centers"  of  every  political  area  in  Africa.  The  effective  applica- 
tion of  the  recommendations  for  the  education  of  the  individual  will  undoubtedly 
result  in  maily  improvements  of  the  curricula  now  prevailing  in  too  many  of  the 
schools  visited  in  the  coast  and  interior  towns  and  cities.  Recent  developments  in 
the  cities  of  Europe  and  America  oflPer  suggestions  of  considerable  value  to  those 
responsible  for  the  education  and  training  in  African  towns  and  cities.  The  more  im- 
portant of  these  are: 

1.  The  school  curriculum,  at  present  based  so  largely  upon  tradition  and  the  de- 
mands of  special  classes  in  large  cities  in  Europe,  should  provide  increasingly  for  the 
immediate  needs  of  the  urban  groups  in  African  towns.  The  possibilities  of  the  African 
city  should  first  of  all  be  imparted  to  the  African  youth.  Every  subject  in  the  curricu- 
lum should  as  far  as  possible  help  the  youth  to  reahze  the  responsibility  of  political  and 
commercial  centers  of  population  to  the  interior  tribes.  They  should  further  be  led 
to  understand  that  the  ultimate  success  of  their  cities  really  depends  upon  the  sound 
development  of  the  interior  areas.  It  should  not  be  possible  for  a  pupil  to  complete 
his  education  without  a  real  appreciation  of  such  urban  problems  as  housing,  municipal 
sanitation,  recreation,  vocational  opportunities. 

2.  The  school  building  and  equipment  should  be  used  not  only  throughout  the 
short  day  sessions,  but  for  continuing  the  education  of  those  who  work  in  the  day  and 
are  free  only  in  the  evening  hours  for  instruction  and  recreation.  The  teacher  should 
be  trained  so  that  he  may  be  a  "social  worker"  acquainted  with  the  home  from  which 


86 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


the  pupils  have  come  and  aware  of  the  opportunities  for  which  the  pupil  must  be  pre- 
pared. Thus  will  the  urban  schools  of  Africa  share  the  functions  of  the  progressive 
lu-ban  schools  of  Europe  and  America.  Emphatic  warning  must  however  be  given  to 
those  who  are  responsible  for  the  policies  of  the  urban  schools  that  the  recognition  of 
these  vital  responsibilities  of  the  teacher  and  of  the  school  requires  an  increase  in  staff 
as  well  as  in  equipment. 

3.  Of  the  various  European  and  American  activities  concerned  with  the  improve- 
ment of  the  people  living  in  towns  and  cities,  possibly  the  most  urgent  for  African 
towns  are  those  that  relate  to  housing  and  home  life.  It  is  evident  that  primitive  peo- 
ples coming  to  the  cities  and  towns  of  Africa  are  subjected  to  severe  strains  of  adjust- 
ment as  they  endeavor  to  change  from  the  simple  conditions  of  kraal  and  village  to  the 
crowded  streets  and  houses  of  urban  areas.  The  wretched  conditions  of  life  observed  in 
many  West  Coast  and  South  African  towns  are  emphatic  evidences  of  the  need  for 
active  plans  for  the  improvement  of  housing  as  well  as  for  the  training  of  Native 
people  in  the  care  of  the  home.  Good  beginnings  were  observed  in  Durban,  Johannes- 
burg, and  a  few  other  places.  The  Durban  Hostel  for  Native  Girls  and  Women  and  the 
Helping  Hand  Club  for  Native  Girls  are  excellent  illustrations  of  efforts  in  this  direction. 
Hostel  and  housing  provisions  for  Natives  in  Durban  and  Bloemfontein  are  types  of 
municipal  provision  that  should  be  considered  by  every  African  city.  The  religious 
and  educational  work  of  missions  and  governments  cannot  succeed  until  it  includes 
plans  for  the  systematic  improvement  of  the  home  life  of  the  Native  groups.  The 
neglect  of  these  groups  will  inevitably  result  in  the  formation  of  ghettos,  breeding  dis- 
ease and  immorality  not  only  for  the  contamination  of  the  city,  but  for  the  degradation 
of  interior  Native  areas.  Possibly  the  most  helpful  influence  for  the  correction  of  the 
internal  conditions  of  the  home  is  the  maintenance  of  well-trained  visiting  nurses  who 
are  capable  of  giving  first-aid  and  of  teaching  methods  of  sanitation  and  general  care 
of  the  home.  Such  a  visitor  wouM  help  the  girls  and  the  mothers  in  dealing  with  the 
puzzling  questions  of  their  life.  They  could  offer  many  suggestions  as  to  the  use  of  the 
limited  wage  and  teach  many  helpful  lessons  with  regard  to  the  care  of  the  children. 
They  might  possibly  follow  the  example  of  American  and  European  cities  in  bringing 
together  groups  of  women  and  girls  to  learn  the  simple  but  vital  lessons  of  home  life 
in  ways  resembling  those  of  the  movable  schools  in  the  rural  areas. 

4.  A  second  responsibility  of  the  urban  community  is  provision  for  helpful  and 
healthful  recreation.  The  change  from  the  open-air  amusements  of  tribal  life  to  the 
temptations  and  irritations  of  town  crowds  is  fraught  with  many  and  serious  dangers 
to  the  morals  and  morale  of  the  Native  groups.  The  large  expenditures  of  money 
and  the  increasing  consideration  given  to  the  public  amusements  in  the  municipalities 
of  Europe  and  America  point  to  a  similar  need  in  African  cities.  Provisions  of  this  char- 
acter are  fairly  well  supplied  for  the  white  groups  in  some  of  the  cities,  but  there  is  very 
little  provision  for  the  Natives.  The  comparatively  short  hours  of  labor  possible  in 
tropical  climate  leave  long  periods  of  time  for  idleness.  Even  the  Native  clerks  whose 
education  and  income  make  possible  the  organization  of  some  forms  of  recreation  on 
their  own  initiative  have  as  yet  drifted  on  without  aid  or  suggestion  as  to  methods  for 


A  BIT  OF  AFRICAN  NATIVE  LIFE 


ADAPTATIONS  OF  EDUCATION 


87 


the  effective  use  of  leisure  time.  The  primitive  masses  are  helpless  to  plan  recreation 
under  the  strange  conditions  to  which  they  have  drifted  or  been  brought  by  commer- 
cial or  industrial  arrangements.  The  results  are  frequently  most  lamentable  and  even 
tragic.  A  few  beginnings  have  been  made  to  correct  these  conditions  and  to  provide 
the  necessary  recreation.  Possibly  the  best  examples  of  these  beginnings  are  those 
conducted  by  the  religious  and  social  agencies  of  Johannesburg.  The.se  include  the 
Bantu  Men's  Social  Center,  the  cinematograph  in  mining  compounds,  and  other  forms 
of  helpful  amusement  for  Native  people.  Durban  is  also  experimenting  with  different 
forms  of  control  and  encouragement  of  places  where  people  meet  for  recreation  and 
refreshment.  The  subject  deserves  the  best  thought  of  those  who  are  concerned  with 
the  direction  of  Native  life  in  African  cities. 

5.  The  crowding  of  primitive  people  with  very  little  industrial  skill  and  unaccus- 
tomed to  the  continued  labor  required  in  urban  occupations  has  been  very  detrimental 
to  the  health  and  morals  of  Native  groups.  Some  industrial  concerns  have  been  com- 
pelled to  give  thought  to  the  needs  of  their  laborers.  These  efforts  are  negligible,  how- 
ever, both  in  quantity  and  quality.  They  can  scarcely  be  called  beginnings.  It  is  impera- 
tive that  government,  commercial  and  industrial  concerns,  and  missions  shall  unite 
in  the  formulation  and  maintenance  of  plans  for  the  care  and  training  of  the  Native 
workers.  It  should  not  be  difficult  to  organize  part-time  classes  and  night  schools 
for  the  training  of  laborers  in  the  occupations  required  by  industrial  and  commer- 
cial activities.  Organizations  resembling  European  employment  bureaus  should  be 
provided  to  assist  Native  men  and  women  to  find  suitable  occupations  and  to  advise 
them.  Such  organizations  could  offer  advice  and  even  protection  wherever  it  was 
needed.  In  its  best  forms  the  system  of  Native  passes  required  by  some  of  the  South 
African  provinces  is  an  effort  to  serve  some  of  the  purposes  of  the  employment  bureau. 
The  mismanagement  of  the  system  in  so  many  instances  has  developed  strong  antipathy 
to  this  form  of  control,  however.  It  is  believed  that  the  employment  bureau  managed 
wisely  and  with  the  active  cooperation  of  Native  leadership  would  be  welcomed  by  the 
Native  people  as  a  sound  effort  to  improve  present  conditions  of  labor  and  to  fit  them 
for  advancement  to  positions  for  which  they  are  prepared  by  experience  and  training. 

6.  No  phase  of  Native  life  in  urban  areas  requires  more  serious  consideration  than 
the  provision  for  religious  instruction  and  guidance.  Some  of  the  missions  have  made 
extensive  provision  of  churches  and  Sunday  Schools.  This  is  notably  true  in  cities 
and  towns  of  the  West  Coast.  The  work  of  the  missions  could  undoubtedly  be  greatly 
strengthened  by  the  adoption  of  methods  similar  to  those  now  so  successfully  carried 
on  by  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tions in  Europe  and  America. 


Chapter  III 


ORGANIZATION  AND  SUPERVISION 

The  educational  and  religious  responsibilities  of  missions  and  governments  require 
the  most  effective  form  of  organization  and  supervision.  Probably  the  greatest 
losses  in  mission  work  are  the  direct  result  of  the  failure  to  organize  and  supervise 
activities.  This  applies  especially  to  the  outstations.  It  was  natural  for  the  mis- 
sionaries in  the  early  days,  impelled  by  an  overwhelming  desire  to  help  the  primitive 
masses  all  about  them,  to  plunge  into  their  great  field  without  adequate  thought 
of  organization  and  supervision.  The  objective  was  so  clear  in  their  minds  as  to 
blind  them  to  the  necessity  for  any  plans  to  carry  on  the  work  as  the  influence  of  the 
mission  extended  over  increasing  numbers  of  Native  villages.  "Occupying  the 
field"  has  been  the  guiding  thought  of  a  very  large  number  of  missionaries  in  every 
part  of  the  world. 

The  religious  fervor  which  dominated  the  life  of  those  willing  to  undertake 
work  in  Africa  tended  too  often  to  exclude  the  deliberative  attitudes  required  in 
the  formation  of  wise  plans  and  directive  measures. 

Many  remarkable  results  have  been  achieved  even  without  any  regard  for  the 
principles  of  sound  administration.  Devoted  men  and  women  have  penetrated  the 
wilderness,  endured  the  hardships,  and  established  the  influence  of  friendship  and 
human  interest  among  thousands  of  Native  people  whose  habits  of  life  ranged  from 
the  lowest  forms  of  cannibalism  to  the  higher  forms  of  primitive  society.  All  credit 
must  be  given  to  those  earnest  representatives  of  civilization  and  Christianity  for 
their  willingness  to  sacrifice  themselves  in  order  that  they  might  carry  the  lessons 
of  health,  industry,  and  Christian  ideals  to  the  uncivilized  people  of  the  great  African 
continent.  They  were  the  pioneers  of  civilization  and  the  first  preachers  of  the  vital 
messages  of  Christianity.  They  had  the  strong  elements  and  sometimes  the  weak 
elements  of  pioneers.  They  were  not  afraid  of  the  unknown,  they  often  attempted 
what  appeared  to  be  the  impossible,  and  they  often  succeeded  remarkably  when  all 
indications  pointed  to  failure.  But  like  pioneers  they  were  often  prodigal  of  their 
own  resources  and  even  of  their  own  lives.  They  believed  in  planting  the  seeds  of 
civilization  and  righteousness,  but  many  of  them  did  not  realize  the  necessity  for 
cultivation  of  the  plant.  They  were  afire  with  the  yearning  for  the  souls  of  men 
and  they  were  eager  to  press  on  from  one  field  to  the  next  so  that  the  seeds  might  be 
planted  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  thousands  or  even  the  millions  of  primitive 
people  whom  they  saw  enslaved  by  superstition  and  ignorance.  It  is  little  wonder 
that  this  eager  interest  of  the  missionaries  became  a  controlling  passion  when  the 
Native  people  came  pleading  to  them  for  comfort  and  guidance.  Often  the  urgency 
of  the  call  was  emphasized  by  the  approach  of  other  forces  menacing  the  future 
influence  of  education  and  Christian  religion.  Thus  has  it  happened  that  the  phrase 
"occupying  the  field  for  Christianity"  has  sometimes  become  the  shibboleth  of 


ORGANIZATION  AND  SUPERVISION 


39 


missionaries,  urging  them  on  to  new  fields  to  the  disregard  of  the  people  for  whose 
educational  and  religious  welfare  they  were  already  responsible. 

With  full  appreciation  of  the  heroic  services  rendered  by  the  missionaries  of 
Africa,  it  must  be  urged  that  those  who  disregard  the  value  of  organization  and 
supervision  are  neglecting  two  of  the  elements  most  essential  to  the  success  of  their 
efforts.  While  this  neglect  may  be  overlooked  in  the  pioneer  work  of  early  mis- 
sionaries, it  should  not  be  tolerated  in  this  day  when  even  casual  observation  of 
mission  work  in  any  part  of  the  world  shows  clearly  the  wastefulness  of  non-organized 
and  unsupervised  activities  in  home  and  foreign  missions.  Almost  every  colony 
visited  by  the  Education  Commission  furnished  examples  of  the  value  of  organi- 
zation and  supervision  and  the  serious  ineffectiveness  and  sometimes  tragic  losses 
of  the  extensive  and  haphazard  missions  whose  chief  object  was  the  "occupation  of 
the  field"  with  little  or  no  provision  for  the  cultivation  of  the  character  of  the  people 
and  the  formation  of  a  system  for  the  continuation  of  the  interest  awakened.  Even  the 
brief  records  of  mission  and  government  activities  in  the  colonial  chapters  of  this 
Report  present  several  striking  contrasts  between  the  two  policies  under  consideration. 

In  one  colony  visited  two  mission  societies  began  their  work  about  a  hundred 
years  ago  under  conditions  that  were  in  many  respects  similar.  One  society  pro- 
ceeded according  to  the  principles  of  sound  administration.  As  the  schools  and 
churches  multiplied  they  decided  upon  a  central  institution  in  which  Native  workers 
were  to  be  trained  for  the  whole  system.  Middle  schools  with  boarding  depart- 
ments were  designated  for  the  training  of  pupils  who  showed  capacity  for  advance- 
ment and  local  schools  were  increased  as  the  staff  of  European  and  Native  workers 
became  available  and  money  and  plant  were  adequate  to  the  needs  of  new  work.  Con- 
sideration was  given  also  to  the  general  conditions  of  the  Native  villages  and  plans 
were  made  and  executed  whose  purposes  were  the  development  of  such  hygienic, 
economic,  and  community  conditions  as  would  contribute  to  the  general  welfare  of 
the  Native  groups  where  churches  and  schools  were  located.  These  varied  phases 
of  the  system  were  under  the  constant  supervision  of  a  corps  of  Europeans  with 
Native  assistants  who  gave  direction,  guidance,  and  encouragement  whenever  it  was 
necessary.  The  results  have  been  very  remarkable.  After  a  hundred  years  of  service 
the  mission  now  knows  with  a  good  deal  of  certainty  the  number  of  people  who 
have  responded  to  its  efforts,  and  the  nature  of  the  changes  that  have  been  wrought 
in  the  life  of  the  individuals  and  of  the  community.  Colonial  governments  and 
missions  are  now  looking  with  increasing  admiration  to  the  methods  and  results 
of  this  mission.  They  are  regarded  as  offering  the  type  of  work  that  should  be 
duplicated  by  every  agency  concerned  with  the  religious  welfare  of  the  Native  people. 

The  other  mission  in  the  same  colony  has  been  equally  devoted  to  the  welfare  of 
the  Native  people  and  the  colony.  Its  workers  have  doubtless  made  equal  sacrifices 
in  their  endeavors  to  take  the  benefits  of  civilization  and  the  great  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity to  the  people.  They  have  also  established  one  central  institution  that  has 
instructed  and  inspired  many  Native  pupils  to  a  life  of  service.  They  do  not 
seem,  however,  to  have  extended  their  influence  according  to  a  plan.     They  have 


40 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


rather  dojicnded  upon  the  instruction  and  inspiration  given  to  individual  students 
who  have  gone  out  from  their  central  school.  Theoretically  there  is  considerable 
to  be  said  in  defense  of  the  faith  in  the  strength  and  wisdom  of  those  whom  they 
have  trained,  and  the  mission  and  the  Native  workers  have  undoubtedly  achieved 
many  excellent  results.  There  are,  nevertheless,  a  number  of  evidences  indicating 
the  larger  and  more  permanent  influence  that  might  have  been  achieved  had  the 
mission  made  better  use  of  the  principles  of  organization  and  supervision.  Among 
these  evidences  are  the  lack  of  a  well-defined  system  of  middle  schools  to  assemble 
the  promising  pupils  of  the  lower  standards;  the  failure  to  promote  the  community 
activities  necessary  to  the  success  of  the  schools;  the  absence  of  adequate  super- 
vision essential  for  the  effective  correlation  of  the  system  and  for  the  encouragement 
of  Native  teachers  working  alone  in  the  outstations.  The  mission  workers  are  not 
able  to  give  a  satisfactory  statement  either  of  the  numerical  extent  of  their  work 
or  of  the  character  of  the  influence  they  have  exerted.  Neither  the  government  nor 
missions  are  looking  to  this  mission  for  guidance  as  to  methods.  There  is  a  feeling 
of  uncertainty  on  the  part  of  the  mission  itself,  and  the  government  is  perplexed 
as  to  the  status  which  it  should  assign  to  the  schools  and  its  products  in  the  future 
development  of  the  colony.  It  is  certain  that  the  present  condition  of  the  mission 
W'ould  have  been  much  more  satisfactory  if  the  society  could  have  insisted  upon 
the  adoption  of  sound  principles  of  administration.  The  heroic  services  of  the  early 
missionaries,  the  contributions  of  the  home  society,  and  the  labors  of  Native  converts 
would  have  been  more  adequately  rewarded  and  the  influence  of  civilization  and 
Christianity  would  have  been  more  effectively  established  in  the  areas  assigned 
to  the  mission. 

The  records  of  two  other  missions  in  another  colony  present  a  contrast  in  some 
respects  parallel  to  those  already  described,  but  in  other  respects  sufficiently  different 
to  warrant  description.  These  two  missions  also  began  their  work  about  the  same 
time,  some  forty  years  ago.  One  mission  has  shown  increasing  regard  for  plan,  order, 
and  "cultivation  of  the  field."  The  results  are  manifested  in  a  system  of  schools 
whose  pupils  are  regularly  promoted  from  the  outschools  to  the  mission  station 
of  each  area  and  finally  to  the  central  school  in  which  Native  teachers  and  religious 
workers  are  trained.  There  is  a  definite  recognition  of  the  importance  of  super- 
vision and  every  effort  is  made  to  give  guidance  and  encouragement  to  the  Native 
workers  wherever  they  are  located.  The  European  and  the  Native  force  realize 
the  value  of  the  organization  and  supervision,  and  cooperate  heartily  to  make  them 
effective.  The  influence  of  the  mission  is  seen  in  every  phase  of  Native  life.  Villages 
have  been  transformed  so  that  even  the  Native  houses  reflect  the  teachings  of  the 
mission.  There  is  a  permanency,  reality,  and  thoroughness  in  the  changes  wrought 
that  prove  conclusively  the  value  of  the  methods  used. 

The  early  period  of  the  other  mission  was  largely  dominated  by  the  methods 
of  the  so-called  "faith  missions."  Here  the  idea  was  to  send  out  missionaries  to 
work  out  their  own  methods,  having  faith  in  the  final  outcome.  There  was  prac- 
tically no  organization  except  that  required  to  place  the  missionaries  at  the  port 


ORGANIZATION  AND  SUPERVISION 


41 


of  entry.  Each  person  was  very  largely  a  law  unto  himself.  They  were  compelled 
to  find  even  a  large  purl  of  their  own  maintenance  from  the  resources  of  the  country. 
Naturally  the  missionaries  attracted  by  such  a  plan  would  be  of  rather  emotional 
type.  Without  general  i)lan  and  with  but  little  deliberation  on  the  part  of  each 
individual  missionary,  the  work  proceeded  for  a  number  of  years.  Many  useful 
results  were  achieved,  but  they  were  accomplished  with  great  suffering  and  loss  of  life. 
Within  the  past  few  years  the  mission  has  been  under  the  direction  of  a  home  board 
which  is  gradually  endeavoring  to  develop  a  system  of  management.  In  comparison 
with  the  remarkable  results  of  the  neighboring  mission  above  described,  the  results 
of  this  mission  are  clearly  not  commensurate  with  the  heroic  efforts  made.  Fortu- 
nately the  wisdom  and  the  liberal  support  of  the  home  board  now  give  promise  of 
better  results  in  the  future. 

The  type  of  organization  and  supervision  prevailing  among  the  missions  in  still 
another  African  colony  suggests  certain  features  which  should  be  avoided.  Prac- 
tically all  the  missions  of  this  colony  maintain  separate  stations  that  are  largely 
independent  of  one  another.  The  stations  are  in  the  main  fairly  well  organized  and 
carefully  supervised  in  their  internal  activities  by  European  missionaries.  Each 
station  has  a  varying  number  of  outstations  for  which  it  is  responsible.  The  system 
of  education  provided  by  this  arrangement  begins  with  the  very  limited  training 
offered  to  the  African  youth  in  what  are  properly  described  as  "bush  schools." 
The  training  offered  in  these  schools  consists  of  the  merest  rudiments — reading, 
taught  very  ineffectively,  a  crude  form  of  writing,  and  usually  not  more  than  addition 
and  subtraction  in  arithmetic.  The  majority  of  the  teachers  rarely  have  more  than 
the  equivalent  of  three  American  grades  or  two  English  standards.  These  schools  are 
attended  most  irregularly  for  two  or  three  years.  The  more  ambitious  pupils  are  then 
transferred  to  the  mission  station,  where  they  are  instructed  in  subjects  equivalent 
to  those  of  the  fourth  American  grade  or  the  third  English  standard.  In  addition 
to  the  classroom  instruction  they  assist  in  the  general  work  of  the  station  and  attend 
religious  services.  Until  very  recently  all  of  the  societies  maintained  the  stations 
at  the  same  educational  level.  There  was  no  arrangement  whereby  a  pupil  who 
had  completed  the  bush  school  and  the  station  school  could  receive  advanced  train- 
ing. There  has  been  a  dead  level  of  training  and  that  entirely  too  low  to  provide 
Native  leadership  worthy  the  name  for  either  educational  or  religious  work.  Mission 
societies  seek  to  justify  this  procedure  on  the  ground  that  many  of  the  stations 
represent  different  tribes  and  languages.  Some  consideration  must  be  given  to  this 
claim.  Even  casual  observation,  however,  proves  clearly  that  these  missions  are 
seriously  mistaken  in  their  failure  to  classify  their  work  so  that  most  of  the  stations 
shall  be  devoted  to  what  may  be  called  the  middle  grades  or  standards  with  one 
central  station  ordering  its  work  for  the  advanced  training  of  the  pupils  who  have  the 
qualifications  for  such  training. 

In  the  colony  under  consideration  there  is  still  active  discussion  of  the  relative 
merits  of  extensive  and  intensive  methods  of  educational  and  religious  work.  The 
supporters  of  the  extensive  method,  impressed  by  the  thousands  of  primitive  peoples 


42 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


all  about  them,  are  urging  "the  occupation  of  the  field"  almost  to  the  neglect  of 
training  and  development.  Those  who  believe  in  more  intensive  methods  are  realizing 
the  instability  of  superficial  influences  and  demanding  better  training  of  at  least  a  few 
selected  Natives  who  can  assist  in  the  vital  responsibilities  of  guidance  and  super- 
vision. So  comj)lelely  are  some  of  the  supporters  of  the  extensive  methods  devoted 
to  their  beliefs  that  they  not  only  disregard  the  provision  for  the  advancement  of 
selected  pupils  to  higher  standards,  but  they  also  neglect  the  supervision  of  the 
meagerly  trained  Native  teachers  who  are  therefore  left  to  struggle  on  against  over- 
whelming temptations  and  difficulties.  Such  emotional  devotion  to  the  ideal  of 
"occupying  the  field"  seems  clearly  to  be  contrary  to  the  best  experience  of  missions 
in  other  parts  of  Africa.  The  outstanding  appeal  for  the  limitation  of  influence  to 
Native  groups  who  can  really  be  instructed  in  civilization  and  Christianity  is  that 
of  the  life  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  entrusted  His  Gospel  to  twelve  men  when 
the  whole  world  was  yet  to  be  won.  Fortunately  there  are  definite  plans  now  being 
urged  by  the  leading  societies  of  the  colony  whereby  supervision  will  be  made 
more  effective,  and  central  schools  will  be  selected  in  which  the  plan  of  work  will 
provide  advanced  training  adapted  to  the  needs  of  Native  men  and  women  who 
are  to  become  teachers  and  religious  workers. 

The  illustrations  given  above  are  all  in  the  village  and  rural  areas  of  the  colonies. 
With  the  multiplication  of  towns  and  cities  in  different  parts  of  Africa  the  types 
of  educational  organization  and  supervision  that  have  arisen  are  in  many  essential 
respects  very  different  from  those  in  the  rural  areas.  Here  the  offenses  against  the 
sound  principles  of  organization  have  been  those  of  concentration  and  duplication 
of  schools  by  several  mission  societies.  In  one  colony  visited  the  concentration  and 
duplication  in  the  urban  center  of  the  colony  were  carried  on  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
neglect  the  great  interior  areas.  Practically  all  the  stronger  schools  of  the  larger 
denominations  have  been  concentrated  in  the  political  and  economic  capital  of  the 
colony.  Only  one  of  the  larger  mission  societies  seems  to  take  a  serious  interest  in 
the  large  interior  areas  where  the  overwhelming  proportion  of  the  Native  people 
live.  All  this  is  evidently  in  striking  contrast  with  the  systems  in  the  other  colonies. 
The  fundamental  defects  of  the  organization  in  the  urban  areas  are  usually  the  result 
of  a  disregard  of  the  work  of  other  societies  and  indifference  to  the  educational  needs 
of  the  interior  villages.  These  defects  were  observed  in  a  number  of  coast  cities. 
There  are  indications  that  the  mistake  is  likely  to  be  repeated  in  other  cities  as  the 
mission  boards  and  the  government  turn  their  attention  to  the  educational  need  of 
the  urban  centers. 

In  order  that  both  government  and  mission  societies  may  avoid  the  errors  of 
unsound  organization  and  inadequate  supervision,  it  seems  clear  that  all  who  are 
concerned  in  the  advancement  of  education  should  agree  so  far  as  possible  on  plans 
of  organization  and  supervision  so  that  all  may  cooperate  in  the  development  of 
educational  systems  whether  they  are  in  the  rural  villages  or  urban  areas  of  Africa. 
Such  plans  have  been  formulated  on  the  basis  of  the  best  available  experience  of 
African  missions  and  governments,  and  are  herewith  presented  as  suggestions  for 


ORGANIZATION  AND  SUPERVISION 


43 


educational  administrators.  The  outstanding  examples  of  successful  organization 
and  supervision  were  observed  in  the  activities  of  the  Scottish  Mission  in  the  region 
of  Calabar,  Nigeria;  the  Basel  Missions,  now  under  the  control  of  the  Scottish  Mis- 
sions of  the  Gold  Coast;  and  the  cooperative  systems  of  missions  and  government  of 
Natal,  South  Africa.  Many  suggestions  have  also  been  adopted  from  the  American 
schools  and  activities  for  the  Negroes  in  the  United  States.  The  more  notable  of  the 
American  organizations  are  those  of  the  Jeanes  Fund  supervisory  teachers,  the 
Rosenwald  schools,  the  county  training  schools,  established  by  the  Slater  Fund, 
and  Hampton  and  Tuskegee  Institutes. 

EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 

The  type  of  organization  must  be  determined  by  the  educational  ends  to  be 
attained  and  by  the  economic,  social,  and  educational  conditions  of  the  area  where 
the  school  system  is  located.    The  educational  ends  may  be  classified  as  follows : 

1.  The  training  of  the  masses  of  the  people. 

2.  The  education  of  Native  leadership. 

3.  The  educational  preparation  of  those  who  must  pass  the  conventional  tests 
required  by  professional  schools. 

There  are  two  main  conditions  under  which  educational  systems  are  being  de- 
veloped, namely: 

1.  Areas  in  which  missions  are  working  alone  among  thousands  of  primitive 
people  living  in  villages  with  no  schools  or  other  civilizing  influences. 

2.  Areas  in  which  missions  are  working  in  cooperation  with  the  government  or 
other  missions  where  schools  have  been  established. 

In  presenting  plans  of  organization  it  is  the  thought  that  educational  adminis- 
trators will  select  such  parts  of  the  plan  as  the  conditions  require.  The  defects  of 
present  organizations  can  usually  be  traced  to  a  disregard  of  one  or  more  of  the 
educational  ends  to  be  attained  or  to  a  failure  to  realize  the  conditions  under  which 
the  work  is  undertaken. 

Elementary  Schools 

The  basic  schools  of  any  system  of  education  are  necessarily  those  of  elementary 
grade.  Without  provision  for  the  extension  of  schools  for  the  masses  of  the  people 
education  fails  to  influence  the  colony  as  a  whole.  The  two  problems  confronting 
those  who  are  responsible  for  the  elementary  schools  are  first,  the  type  of  training 
to  be  given,  and  second  the  method  of  multiplying  these  schools  so  that  their  educa- 
tional influence  may  extend  to  all  the  children  of  school  age.  The  chapter  on  educa- 
tional adaptations  presents  the  elements  to  be  considered  in  determining  the  content 
and  methods  of  the  elementary  school.  The  elements  requiring  special  consideration 
in  these  schools  are  the  essentials  represented  by  the  three  R's,  knowledge  and  habits 
necessary  to  health,  interest  in  the  soil  and  in  Native  handicrafts,  helpful  recreation. 


44 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


character,  and  s])irilual  develoj)iuent.  The  Native  language  should  have  a  large 
place  in  all  the  activities  of  the  school,  and  wherever  possible  it  should  be  the  language 
of  instruction  for  the  lower  grades.  Every  effort  should  be  made  to  include  girls 
as  well  as  boj's  in  the  schools.  It  is  evident  that  the  problem  of  extending  education 
to  primitive  masses  distributed  over  extended  and  undeveloped  country  is  one 
of  very  great  difficulty.  Practical  experience  in  dealing  with  the  problem  has  resulted 
in  a  division  of  elementary  standards  or  grades  into  two  types  of  schools,  namely,  the 
local  day  school  and  the  middle  school — the  latter  usually  with  boarding  facilities, 
but  sometimes  entirely  composed  of  day  pupils. 

Local  Day  School 

The  local  day  school  is  usually  housed  in  a  one-room  structure  very  simple  and 
even  crude  in  construction.  In  the  more  effective  systems  this  local  school  provides 
instruction  equivalent  to  three  English  standards  or  about  four  American  grades. 
The  teacher  in  a  school  receiving  government  aid  must  have  completed  a  training 
course  equal  to  about  eleven  or  twelve  years  of  education.  A  comparatively  small 
proportion  of  the  local  schools  in  Africa  have  attained  to  these  standards  of  instruc- 
tion or  teacher  qualifications.  The  majority  of  the  teachers  have  not  had  more  than 
the  equivalent  of  three  or  four  years  of  schooling.  Sometimes  they  seem  to  be  but 
little  above  the  standards  of  the  primitive  people  whose  children  they  are  teaching. 
The  children  attend  these  poorer  schools  with  great  irregularity;  often,  indeed,  the 
hours  of  instruction  are  limited  to  an  hour  or  two  in  the  early  morning  and  an  hour 
for  a  few  stragglers  in  the  late  afternoon.  Under  such  conditions  the  problem  of 
the  superintendent  of  education  is  to  determine  whether  to  discontinue  these  crude 
efforts  until  adequate  funds  and  teaching  force  are  available  to  organize  a  local  school 
with  three  standards  well  taught,  or  to  adopt  a  middle  course  requiring  an  improve- 
ment of  teachers,  methods,  and  equipment  without  insisting  upon  conformity  to  the 
recognized  standards  of  the  ideal  system.  The  best  experience  of  Africa  and  America 
points  decidedly  to  the  latter  course.  To  defer  the  extension  of  elementary  educa- 
tion to  the  masses  of  the  people  until  an  ideal  system  can  be  provided  is  clearly 
detrimental  to  the  best  interests  of  the  people  and  the  colony.  It  is  equally  certain 
that  the  extension  of  schools  without  any  regard  for  standards  is  wasteful  of  money 
and  effort.  It  is  therefore  urged  that  government  and  missions  decide  upon  standards 
that  provide  for  an  improvement  of  the  ineffective  conditions  without  requiring  the 
ideal  standards.  In  adopting  such  a  course  it  is  exceedingly  important  that  every 
influence  tend  to  stimulate  the  teachers  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  better  stand- 
ards so  that  the  recognition  of  the  low  standards  may  be  discontinued  as  soon 
as  possible. 

The  success  of  this  plan  will  depend  very  largely  on  the  quality  and  extent 
of  the  supervision  provided  for  the  schools  during  the  probationary  period. 
Reference  will  be  made  elsewhere  to  the  place  of  the  "county  training  school"  in 
providing  the  teachers  required  for  this  temporary  arrangement.  The  ideal  type  of 
local  school  is  illustrated  in  the  American  system  by  what  is  known  as  the  Rosenwald 


ORGANIZATION  AND  SUPERVISION 


45 


school,  to  be  described  in  another  chapter.  The  equipment  and  activities  of  this  type 
of  school  are  related  to  the  needs  of  both  the  pupil  and  community. 

Middle  School 

The  middle  school  in  the  better  systems  of  education  includes  Standard  IV  through 
Standard  VII,  equivalent  to  Grade  V  through  Grade  IX  of  the  American  system. 
As  a  rule  these  schools  are  boarding  institutions.  Most  of  them  are  for  boys.  They 
are  usually  at  the  mission  station  under  the  charge  of  European  or  American  mis- 
sionaries. The  student  body  is  composed  of  students  who  have  been  promoted 
from  the  local  schools.  At  these  institutions  the  educational  influences  include 
not  only  the  schoolroom  activities  but  contact  with  the  European  missionaries  in 
the  ordinary  tasks  of  the  institution  and  in  the  religious  life  of  the  group.  In  very 
few  parts  of  Africa  does  the  school  system  proceed  beyond  the  mission  station  of 
this  character.  Probably  not  more  than  a  fourth  provide  training  through  Standard 
VII.  The  large  majority  of  them  scarcely  complete  Standard  IV.  Accordingly 
most  of  the  missions  depend  upon  these  middle  schools  for  the  training  of  teachers 
and  religious  workers  to  carry  on  their  work  in  the  outstations  and  the  villages. 
A  negligible  number  of  these  stations  offer  special  instruction  in  mechanical  trades. 
Knowledge  of  agriculture  and  Native  handicrafts  usually  depends  upon  the  training 
incidental  to  the  food  needs  and  the  repairs  and  building  of  the  plant.  These  insti- 
tutions are  the  power  stations  for  the  instruction,  guidance,  and  inspiration  of  the 
religious  workers  for  the  country  about  them.  In  many  instances  they  are  responsible 
for  large  areas  and  great  groups  of  people.  Practically  all  of  the  stations  assemble 
the  outstation  teachers  at  regular  periods  for  some  kind  of  instruction.  One  or  more 
of  the  mission  workers  are  assigned  to  the  task  of  going  as  itinerant  workers  among 
the  outposts.  It  is  probable  that  the  middle  schools  or  mission  stations  are  the  most 
interesting  and  effective  institutions  in  Africa.  The  defect  in  most  of  them,  how- 
ever, is  the  almost  exclusive  emphasis  on  training  directed  to  literary  and  clerical 
pursuits.  The  curricula  of  the  schools  reflect  very  little  interest  in  preparing  the 
youth  for  the  great  economic  and  social  needs  of  the  country.  The  pupils  are  not 
educated  to  assist  in  the .  agricultural  and  industrial  development  of  the  colony, 
and  often  they  do  not  realize  their  responsibilities  for  the  improvement  of  the  sani- 
tary and  social  conditions  of  the  Native  villages. 

The  effective  organization  of  the  middle-school  type  is  probably  the  next  im- 
portant task  in  the  development  of  school  systems  in  Africa.  The  essentials  of  such 
a  type  have  been  outlined  in  the  chapter  on  educational  adaptations.  Every  activity 
must  be  related  to  the  needs  of  the  pupils,  and  the  institution  as  a  whole  must  be 
conscious  of  its  community  responsibilities.  The  x^merican  type  known  as  the 
county  training  school  suggests  many  of  the  educational  features  required  in  the 
African  middle  school.  Most  of  the  county  training  schools  begin  their  existence  as 
elementary  institutions.  During  the  early  period  the  upper  grade  includes  some 
training  in  teaching.  Emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  thorough  teaching  of  the  three 
R's,  and  provision  is  made  for  instruction  in  gardening  and  handicrafts  equal  in 


46 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


dignity  and  sincerity  to  that  in  book  subjects.  As  the  level  of  education  is  raised 
in  the  community  higher  grades  or  standards  are  added.  Until  the  new  standards 
are  provided  the  qualified  pupils  are  promoted  to  more  advanced  institutions.  In 
colonies  where  coeducation  has  not  yet  been  adopted  it  will  be  necessary  to  provide 
middle  schools  for  girls.  These  institutions  should  have  the  same  general  provisions 
as  those  for  the  boys,  with  special  emphasis  on  the  educational  activities  related 
to  the  home. 

Another  type  of  middle  school  now  proposed  in  some  of  the  colonies  has  for  its 
purpose  the  training  of  mechanical  workers  and  farmers  so  that  the  Native  youth 
may  be  ready  to  earn  an  honest  livelihood  and  share  in  the  task  of  developing  the 
resources  of  the  colony.  This  type  is  represented  by  the  junior  trade  schools  now  being 
established  by  Governor  Guggisberg  in  the  Gold  Coast.  While  the  training  is  dis- 
tinctly vocational  in  purpose,  the  schools  provide  for  literary  education  and  char- 
acter development.  It  is  probable  that  this  type  of  training  could  be  combined 
with  that  given  in  the  reorganized  middle  school  proposed  in  the  above  paragraph. 

Secondary  Schools 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  successful  development  of  elementary  education 
depends  increasingly  upon  the  organization  of  secondary  schools  whose  activities 
are  related  to  the  life  of  the  people.  While  the  simple  elements  of  teacher  training 
may  be  included  in  the  upper  elementary  grades,  an  adequate  supply  of  trained 
teachers  and  religious  workers  depends  upon  secondary  education.  The  responsi- 
bilities of  education  and  religion  are  too  great  to  be  permanently  entrusted  to  those 
whose  minds  and  characters  have  not  been  moulded  by  the  standards  of  the  secondary 
school.  With  the  extension  of  schools  and  churches  over  large  areas  it  is  essential 
that  the  European  workers  shall  be  assisted  by  Natives  whose  education  and  char- 
acter represent  a  broader  training  than  that  of  the  elementary  standards.  It  is  also 
necessary  that  the  Native  leadership  in  the  agricultural  and  industrial  development 
of  Africa  shall  have  profited  by  the  knowledge  and  training  of  the  secondary  schools. 
In  addition  there  are  the  conventional  demands  of  professional  schools  in  Europe 
requiring  a  study  of  certain  secondary  subjects  for  admission.  Secondary  education 
must  therefore  be  organized  to  meet  these  varied  demands,  first,  for  those  who  are 
to  be  teachers  and  religious  workers,  second,  for  those  who  are  to  specialize  in  agri- 
cultural and  industrial  education,  and  third,  for  those  who  are  preparing  to  enter 
professional  schools  of  medicine,  law,  or  theology.  It  is  not  strange  that  only  a  few 
school  systems  in  Africa  have  made  provision  for  secondary  schools.  Missions  and 
governments  have  been  overwhelmed  with  the  task  of  introducing  education  to  great 
masses  of  primitive  people.  The  few  secondary  schools  already  organized  represent  three 
types.  One  has  for  its  purpose  the  training  of  teachers  and  religious  workers.  This 
type  is  illustrated  in  the  Scottish  Mission  at  Calabar,  the  Basel  Mission  on  the  Gold 
Coast,  and  the  Natal  schools  for  the  training  of  teachers.  The  second  type  is  illus- 
trated by  some  of  the  grammar  schools  of  Freetown  and  Lagos,  where  the  emphasis 
is  strongly  on  the  classics  and  preparation  for  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge  matricu- 


ORGANIZATION  AND  SUPERVISION 


47 


lations.  The  tliird  type  is  the  Government  Technical  School  at  Accra,  Gold  Coast, 
and  the  trade  courses  of  the  Ilope-Waddell  Institution  at  Calabar.  As  yet  these 
technical  schools  do  not  require  the  completion  of  the  elementary  standards.  They 
do,  however,  require  the  pupils  to  specialize  in  mechanical  pursuits  and  gradually 
they  will  probably  be  advanced  to  secondary  grade. 

The  first  responsibility  of  educational  administrators  in  Africa  is  definitely  to 
determine  that  every  school  system  shall  include  one  or  more  secondary  schools. 
If  the  schools  maintained  by  one  mission  society  are  not  suflSciently  numerous  or 
advanced  to  warrant  the  organization  of  an  institution  of  secondary  grade,  it  will  of 
course  be  necessary  to  combine  with  other  mission  boards  or  the  government  so  that 
the  pupils  may  have  the  benefit  of  secondary  education.  The  educational  and 
religious  work  of  a  number  of  missionary  societies  is  at  present  hampered  by  their 
inability  to  provide  secondary  education  or  their  failure  to  cooperate  with  other 
societies  in  the  maintenance  of  a  secondary  school.  The  second  task  is  to  determine 
the  type  of  secondary  school  they  shall  select  for  their  system.  In  some  systems 
the  secondary  school  includes  general  education;  vocational  training  for  teaching, 
religious  work,  mechanical  and  agricultural  pursuits;  and  preparation  for  university 
and  professional  schools  in  Europe  and  America.  In  other  systems  separate  insti- 
tutions are  maintained  for  each  of  the  various  vocations.  There  are  numerous  pre- 
cedents for  both  methods.  The  well-known  American  institutions  at  Hampton  and 
Tuskegee  represent  the  combination  of  these  various  ends  in  one  institution.  African 
schools  like  Lovedale  and  Amanzimtoti  in  South  Africa,  and  Hope-Waddell  in  Calabar, 
represent  the  combination  of  some  of  these  educational  ends.  The  type  of  organi- 
zation maintained  in  most  of  the  mission  middle  schools  seems  clearly  to  tend  in 
the  same  direction.  Such  institutions  as  the  Government  Agricultural  School  at 
Tsolo,  South  Africa,  and  the  Government  Technical  and  Teacher-Training  Schools 
at  Accra,  Gold  Coast,  are  of  the  specialized  type.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
old  conception  of  secondary  education  as  exclusively  of  the  academic  character  has 
now  been  changed  so  that  it  includes  the  varied  and  fundamental  types  of  training 
required  by  those  who  are  to  deal  directly  with  social  conditions.  The  best  experience 
in  Africa  and  America  points  to  the  following  conclusions  regarding  secondary 
schools : 

1.  Secondary  schools  maintained  by  missions  should  as  a  rule  combine  the 
varied  ends.  The  education  of  religious  workers  and  teachers  is  evidently  their 
first  responsibility.  The  training  of  industrial  and  agricultural  leaders  is  the  second, 
and  the  preparation  of  pupils  in  the  conventional  subjects  required  by  the  European 
universities  is  the  third. 

2.  It  is  possible  for  the  government  secondary  schools  to  specialize  on  any  one 
of  the  educational  aims.  In  some  instances  it  may  be  desirable  to  do  so.  There 
are,  however,  advantages  even  for  the  government  in  the  combination  of  two  or  more 
of  these  various  ends  in  one  school. 

3.  With  the  advancement  of  education  in  Africa  school  administrators  will  in 
the  course  of  time  be  confronted  with  the  problem  of  dividing  the  twelve  years  of 


48 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


education  preliminary  to  tlie  college  into  eight  years  of  elementary  and  four  years 
of  secondary  work  or  six  years  of  elementary  and  six  years  of  secondary  instruc- 
tion. In  advanced  systems  like  those  of  South  Africa,  the  problem  is  already  at  hand. 
Even  though  the  educational  activities  in  other  colonies  are  in  so  many  respects 
almost  primitive,  it  is  apparent  that  the  present  organization  can  more  easily  be  adapted 
to  the  six-and-six  plan  than  to  the  eight-and-four  plan.  The  basis  for  this  observation 
is  in  the  belief  that  the  local  elementary  school  of  three  English  standards — the 
equivalent  of  four  or  five  American  grades — should  soon  be  developed  to  six  years 
of  elementary  schooling,  and  that  the  middle  school  should  be  developed  into  a  six- 
year  secondary  institution. 

Colleges 

In  the  colonies  visited  only  two  institutions  were  offering  instruction  in  sub- 
jects of  college  grade.  Fourah  Bay  College  is  described  at  length  in  the  chapter 
on  Sierra  Leone.  The  educational  emi)hasis  is  strongly  classical,  though  eflforts  are 
now  being  made  to  introduce  some  science  and  relate  the  work  to  the  life  of  the 
colony.  The  South  African  Native  College  in  Cape  Province  is  a  new  institution 
with  a  small  number  of  students,  only  10  per  cent  of  whom  are  in  college  work. 
The  plans  of  the  institution  contemplate  departments  of  agriculture,  medicine, 
domestic  economy  and  art,  and  denominational  seminaries  for  the  preparation  of 
religious  leaders.  These  are  probably  the  only  institutions  offering  any  type  of 
collegiate  training  to  Native  Africans,  with  the  exception  of  those  reported  in  Egypt 
and  the  other  Mediterranean  colonies.  Some  advanced  work  of  value  is  reported  at 
Dakar.  In  the  past  many  Native  Africans  have  proceeded  to  Europe  for  college 
education.  A  number  of  these  students  have  achieved  distinction  in  medicine,  law, 
theology,  and  engineering.  It  seems  probable  that  for  some  years  to  come  African 
colonies  must  depend  upon  Europe  and  America  for  university  training.  It  must 
be  recognized,  however,  that  Africa  should  have  its  own  colleges  as  soon  as  the 
elementary  and  secondary  schools  are  able  to  supply  a  sufficient  number  of  students 
to  warrant  the  organization  of  colleges.  The  important  considerations  in  deter- 
mining the  type  and  place  of  colleges  may  be  summarized  as  follows : 

1.  The  college  in  Africa  should  comply  with  the  tests  of  adaptation  to  the  needs 
of  the  people  as  now  increasingly  recognized  by  the  progressive  colleges  and  universi- 
ties of  the  world.    This  involves  better  provision  for  science  and  social  studies. 

2.  Provision  should  be  made  for  the  professional  training  of  Natives  in  medi- 
cine, law,  education,  theology,  and  engineering,  in  one  or  two  strategically  located 
higher  institutions. 

3.  In  the  collegiate  provisions  there  must  be  consideration  for  the  language 
of  the  colonizing  nation  and  the  Native  peoples. 

It  may  be  of  value  to  forecast  the  probable  development  of  colleges  in  Africa 
according  to  the  geographical  and  colonial  divisions  of  the  continent.  On  this  basis 
it  seems  likely  that  the  three  British  colonies  in  West  Africa  will  combine  to  organize 
a  college  for  all  the  students  of  collegiate  grade  whom  they  can  prepare.   In  the  con- 


ORGANIZATION  AND  SUPERVISION 


49 


sideration  of  the  claims  of  each  colony  for  a  cooi)enitive  institution  it  seems  cer- 
tain that  the  CJold  Coast,  midway  between  Sierra  Leone  and  Nigeria,  is  the  natural 
geographical  center  for  such  an  institution.  The  quality  of  educational  work  in 
the  Gold  Coast,  and  esi)ecially  the  intimate  relationship  of  coast  Natives  with  the 
interior  tribes,  are  guarantees  of  college  activities  related  to  the  life  of  the  j)eople. 
Fourah  Bay  College  in  Sierra  Leone  naturally  claims  consideration  because  of  its 
long  record  in  college  work.  The  institution  may  well  be  continued,  with  the  changes 
in  its  curriculum  proposed  in  the  chai)ter  on  Sierra  Leone,  to  train  teachers  and  to 
prepare  students  for  advanced  work  in  British  universities. 

The  second  group  of  colonies  forming  a  language  unit  are  those  under  the  control 
of  France  and  Belgium,  including  French  and  Belgian  Congo  and  the  Cameroons. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  educational  authorities  of  these  colonies  will  combine  to 
found  a  school  of  collegiate  grade  at  some  point  accessible  to  the  students  of  this 
central  part  of  Africa. 

The  third  group  of  colonial  areas  visited  were  those  of  South  Africa.  Fortunately 
the  authorities  of  this  important  area  have  already  united  to  found  the  South  ^African 
Native  College  at  Fort  Hare.  It  is  probable  that  this  institution  will  become  avail- 
able for  the  students  from  practically  all  the  English-speaking  parts  of  East  Africa. 
There  remain  then  only  Portuguese  East  and  West  Africa.  In  view^  of  the  com- 
paratively small  population  of  these  areas  their  advanced  pupils  should  probably 
proceed  to  the  institutions  of  South  Africa  where  education  has  already  made 
substantial  progress. 

EDUCATIONAL  SUPERVISION 

Adequate  supervision  of  educational  and  religious  work  is  probably  the  most  certain 
guarantee  of  economy  and  effective  results.*  While  it  may  seem  an  additional  burden 
on  mission  and  government  teachers  already  overloaded,  time  will  justify  the  extra 
expenditure  of  effort.  The  successful  missions  described  in  various  parts  of  this 
Report  have  without  exception  made  provision  for  supervision.  Modern  business 
and  political  organizations  have  long  since  discovered  the  necessity  of  supervision.  If 
the  agencies  of  war  and  commerce  find  it  profitable  to  spend  monej^  and  energy  for  a 
supervisory  staff  to  achieve  their  physical  ends,  surely  the  agencies  of  education 
and  religion  must  take  advantage  of  their  example  to  mould  character  and  to  achieve 
their  spiritual  purposes. 

The  importance  of  supervision  in  the  mission  field  is  greatly  increased  by  the  fact 

that  mission  work  is  scattered  over  wide  areas  and  that  it  is  necessary  to  use  Natives 

of  limited  experience  and  inadequate  education.    There  is  considerable  evidence  of 

outpost  teachers  loitering  away  their  time  living  on  the  prestige  of  their  relationship 

to  the  European  missionaries.   It  is  hardly  necessary  to  note  how  wasteful  and  unfair 

it  has  often  been  to  send  Natives  who  have  but  superficial  knowledge  of  education 

and  religion  to  change  the  life  of  their  primitive  communities  without  direction 

*It  is  worth  recording  here  that  the  China  Education  Mission  and  the  India  Commission  both  em- 
phasize the  necessity  of  adequate  supervision.  See  "Christian  Education  in  China"  (Foreign  Missions 
Conference  of  North  America,  New  York  City)  and  "Village  Education  in  India"  (Oxford  University  Press.) 


50 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


and  encouragement  regularly  received  from  the  central  station.  Teachers  of  this  type 
are  compelled  to  withstand  the  subtle  influences  that  root  deep  in  the  habits  of  their 
own  life  as  well  as  in  the  customs  and  traditions  of  tribal  authority.  The  temptations 
are  sufficient  to  try  even  the  European,  whose  character  represents  generations  of 
training  in  conditions  far  removed  from  those  of  the  primitive  people  to  whom  he 
ministers.  It  seems  difiicult  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  making  available  regular 
and  thoroughgoing  direction,  friendship,  and  spiritual  inspiration  from  a  central 
station  to  every  worker,  Native  or  European,  living  at  the  outpost  schools. 

The  complete  supervision  of  educational  activities  in  a  colony  involves  both 
the  government  and  missions.  The  best  form  of  supervision  observed  has  been  the 
result  of  cooperative  relations  between  the  colonial  departments  of  education 
and  the  oflBcers  of  the  missions.  In  some  colonies  the  missions  are  working  in 
almost  complete  independence  of  the  government.  In  one  or  two  colonies  the  govern- 
ments have  passed  regulations  that  hamper  and  discourage  the  missionaries.  In 
these  exceptional  cases  the  government  requires  a  very  minute  statement  concerning 
the  qualifications  and  duties  of  each  mission  worker  before  a  school  can  be  estab- 
lished. The  unfortunate  result  of  this  regulation  is  to  eliminate  mission  workers 
who  are  loyally  rendering  the  colony  an  educational  service  which  it  cannot  possibly 
supply  through  its  own  European  population  or  financial  resources.  An  even  worse 
feature  of  these  hampering  regulations  is  the  exclusion  of  the  Native  languages  from 
the  schools.  This  is  clearly  a  denial  of  a  fundamental  right  of  Native  peoples,  espe- 
cially when  the  Native  dialects  are  excluded  in  order  that  a  European  language 
may  become  the  sole  means  of  instruction.  Fortunately  the  tendency  everywhere 
is  toward  cooperation  of  missions  with  government,  both  in  supervision  and  organi- 
zation of  educational  activities. 

Government  Board  of  Advice 

In  view  of  the  large  contribution  made  by  mission  societies  to  the  education  of 
Natives,  it  seems  most  important  that  the  government  arrange  for  the  active  co- 
operation of  these  boards  in  the  supervision  of  schools.  The  Province  of  Natal  in 
South  Africa  has  solved  this  problem  by  appointing  a  board  of  advice.  The  following 
quotation  from  the  Report  of  the  Natal  Native  Affairs  Commission,  1906-7,  indicates 
a  policy  that  could  fittingly  be  adopted  by  all  the  African  colonies  and  by  all  the 
provinces  of  South  Africa. 

Not  being  financially  able  to  erect  even  a  fair  number  of  central  schools,  the  aid  of  the  various  mis- 
sionary societies  is  indispensable  for  the  continuance  of  the  work  of  education,  and  having  regard  to  the 
work  already  done  and  to  their  close  and  abiding  connection  with  the  cause,  the  formation  of  a  small 
Board  of  Advice,  upon  which  all  the  denominations  might  be  directly  or  indirectly  represented,  is  strongly 
recommended.  This  would  be  a  graceful  act  of  recognition  of  the  services  rendered  by  these  societies 
in  the  cause  of  education  for  so  many  years,  and  be  helpful  in  the  settlement  of  general  principles  and  broad 
rules  for  the  guidance  of  the  Education  Department. 

The  composition  and  functions  of  such  a  board  will  require  careful  consideration. 
In  the  main  the  board's  function  should  be  that  of  advice.    In  matters  pertaining 


ORGANIZATION  AND  SUPERVISION 


51 


to  the  missionary  schools  it  is  evident  tliat  the  officers  of  the  missions  should  receive 
the  greatest  possible  consideration  from  the  government.  The  membership  of  the 
board  should  include  representation  from  the  government  department  of  educa- 
tion and  the  larger  missionary  organizations.  Wherever  there  are  Natives  caf)able 
of  understanding  educational  problems  there  should  be  a  representative  of  Native 
thought.  It  is  also  desirable  that  the  board  shall  include  members  who  represent 
agricultural,  industrial,  or  commercial  forces  in  the  colony.  Appeal  has  been  made 
in  Natal  to  include  representjitives  of  the  teachers,  so  that  their  experiences  may 
be  considered  in  determining  the  educational  policies  for  the  province.  The  various 
suggestions  as  to  membership  indicate  the  possibility  of  creating  a  board  that  is  too 
large  to  be  effective.  The  vital  point  to  be  considered  is  the  desirability  of  some 
regularly  constituted  committee  to  counsel  with  the  government  that  all  educational 
agencies  may  work  harmoniously  for  the  development  of  the  Natives  and  the  colony. 

Supervision  and  Inspection 

The  English  system  of  school  inspection  is  universally  known  for  its  thorough- 
ness. Its  success  in  requiring  accuracy  in  the  conventional  school  activities  has 
been  notable.  Other  countries  and  especially  America  might  well  profit  by  adopting 
the  good  features  of  this  system.  There  are,  however,  unfortunate  elements  in  the 
system.  These  elements  have  been  well  described  by  Dr.  C.  T.  Loram  in  his  book  on 
"The  Education  of  the  South  African  Native": 

Its  inherent  wrongness  is  that  it  puts  teacher  and  inspector  in  a  wrong  relation  to  one  another.  There 
is  a  suspicion  of  espionage — especially  when  the  so-called  "surprise"  visits  are  paid — which  is  hurtful 
to  education.  The  objective  of  both  teacher  and  inspector  should  be  the  same,  and  the  inspector,  from 
his  superior  training,  experience,  and  knowledge,  should  take  the  attitude  of  friend  and  adviser,  and  not 
that  of  detective.  The  school  conditions  at  an  inspector's  examination  are  not  normal.  Teachers  and 
pupils  are  in  an  unnatural  state  of  excitement;  the  inspector  is  hurried,  and  perhaps  out  of  sorts.  The 
Native,  being  more  emotional  than  the  European,  suffers  greatly  from  the  tense  atmosphere.  The  time  at 
the  inspector's  disposal  is  all  too  short  for  anything  like  a  thorough  examination.  The  result  is  that  the 
teacher's  work  for  a  year  is  often  inadequately  estimated  in  a  few  minutes. 

Dr.  Loram  continues  his  discussion  of  the  weakness  of  the  inspection  system 
in  describing  what  he  regards  as  an  overzealous  devotion  to  standards : 

The  present  inviolability  of  the  "standards"  must  be  broken  into,  if  education  is  going  to  progress. 
They  do  not  deserve  the  respect  with  which  they  are  treated,  since  they  are  nothing  more  than  a  con- 
venient device  to  enable  us  to  carry  on  mass  teaching.  A  standard  represents  the  amount  of  work  which 
the  framers  of  the  curriculum  (in  the  case  of  Native  schools,  men  not  actually  engaged  in  teaching)  think 
can  be  accomplished  by  the  average  child  within  a  certain  period,  generally  a  year.  In  each  standard  there 
will  then  be  a  number  of  children  for  whom  the  work  is  too  much,  or  too  diflacult,  and  a  number  for  whom 
it  is  too  little  or  too  easy.  If  all  remain  in  the  same  standard  for  a  year,  the  former  will  be  overworked, 
the  latter  will  waste  valuable  time. 

A  much  more  desirable  type  of  school  supervision  and  inspection  is  that  indicated 
in  the  regulations  proposed  for  the  Orange  Free  State: 

The  duty  of  the  inspector  is  to  test  the  efficiency  of  the  school  by  an  inquiry  into  the  organization, 
the  classification,  and  the  methods  of  instruction  pursued,  and  also  into  the  nro^ress  made  by  the  pupils 


52 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


as  evinced  by  their  exercise  and  examination  books  and  by  tlie  results  of  a  general  class  examination, 
lie  will,  Lowever,  if  he  deem  it  necessary,  hold  in  greater  detail  an  individual  examination,  in  order  to 
ascertain  the  conditions  of  any  of  the  classes.  He  will  be  asked  to  report  as  to  the  thoroughness  of  the 
teaching,  and  as  to  the  ability  of  the  pupils  to  apply  to  practical  purposes  the  knowledge  acquired.  He 
shall  also  satisfy  himself  that  in  the  ordinary  management  of  the  school  all  reasonable  care  is  taken  to 
bring  up  the  children  in  habits  of  punctuality,  of  good  manners  and  language,  of  cleanliness  and  neat- 
ness, and  to  impress  upon  them  the  importance  of  cheerful  obedience  to  duty,  of  consideration  and  respect 
for  others,  and  of  honor  and  truthfulness  in  word  and  act. 

Tlie  Scolti.sli  Mission  and  Basel  Mission  systems  of  supervision  are  more  applic- 
able to  the  conditions  prevailing  in  most  of  the  mission  fields  of  Africa.  In  the 
Calabar  District  of  Nigeria  the  Scottish  Mission  has  divided  its  field  into  sub- 
districts  with  a  central  school  and  a  European  supervisor  in  each  district.  Each 
supervisor  has  charge  of  from  15  to  20  branch  schools  taught  by  Native  men.  Before 
the  war  the  supervisors  were  all  men.  At  present  they  are  women  of  good  training. 
The  plan  requires  that  each  outstation  school  be  visited  once  every  four  to  six  weeks, 
and  that  every  Friday  afternoon  the  Native  teachers  be  assembled  at  the  central  school 
of  the  district  for  instruction  in  elementary  subjects,  teaching  methods,  and  religion. 
The  result  of  this  effective  supervision  has  been  to  make  the  system  famous  through- 
out West  Africa  among  both  government  officials  and  missions.  The  Basel  Mission 
in  the  Gold  Coast  was  similarly  divided  into  subdistricts  with  a  central  school 
from  which  European  stipervisors  went  out  regularly  to  visit  local  day  schools. 
During  the  war  the  Swiss  and  German  missionaries  were  withdrawn  and  the  mission 
was  transferred  to  the  Scottish  Mission  Society.  The  supervision  of  the  local  day 
schools  was  turned  over  almost  entirely  to  the  Native  graduates  of  the  Basel  Mission 
system.  These  Natives  had  had  about  twelve  years  of  education,  including  teacher 
training  and  the  course  for  Native  ministers,  and  were  able  to  carry  on  the  super- 
vision with  considerable  success.  It  was  interesting  to  note  the  regularity  with 
which  these  Native  supervisors  visited  the  local  schools.  The  week  was  divided 
so  that  a  certain  number  of  schools  could  be  visited  each  day  beginning  early  Monday 
morning  and  continuing  well  into  the  week,  reserving  the  necessary  time  for  prepara- 
tion for  the  Sabbath.  In  both  systems  the  supervisor  keeps  full  records  of  his  obser- 
vations, but  the  most  important  feature  of  the  school  visitation  is  the  friendly 
exchange  between  teacher  and  supervisor. 

The  Jeanes  Fund  system  of  supervisory  teachers  so  effective  for  the  improvement 
of  rural  Negro  schools  in  America  probably  offers  more  suggestions  for  the  type 
of  supervision  required  than  any  other  system  known  to  the  Commission.  The 
Jeanes  Fund  is  an  endowment,  made  possible  by  a  devoted  Quaker  woman,  for  the 
improvement  of  small  rural  schools  for  Negroes  in  the  United  States.  The  income 
of  the  Fund  is  expended  to  pay  or  to  supplement  the  salary  and  expenses  of  super- 
vising teachers  who  spend  all  of  their  time  in  working  with  the  teachers  of  little 
schools  distributed  over  wide  areas  of  rural  districts,  often  under  very  discouraging 
conditions.  The  problem  originally  confronting  the  officers  of  the  Fund  resembled 
that  of  the  colonial  officers  of  education  and  the  missionaries  who  are  responsible  for  , 
the  education  of  many  primitive  people  widely  scattered  over  large  areas.  The  large 


ORGANIZATION  AND  SUPERVISION 


53 


proportion  of  the  Anierit-an  rural  scliools  for  Negroes  were  primitive  in  almost  all 
respects.  Tlie  buildings  were  mere  shacks,  the  teachers  untrained,  and  the  school 
sessions  not  more  than  three  or  six  months.  The  Jeanes  Fund  officers,  with  an  income 
entirely  inadequate  to  deal  with  the  ])rol)lem  as  a  whole,  decided  to  develop  a  type 
of  supervisory  help  to  encourage  the  gradual  but  certain  improvement  of  the  existing 
organization.  At  first  the  supervisory  teacher  was  maintained  entirely  by  the  Fund. 
As  the  effectiveness  of  the  i)lan  was  recognized  the  system  was  gradually  adopted 
by  the  local  school  authorities  and  the  supervisory  teacher  became  a  regular  public 
employee.  Usually  the  teacher  was  a  Negro  woman  trained  in  one  of  the  institutions 
like  Hampton  and  Tuskegee  where  the  school  activities  stress  both  the  knowledge 
of  books  and  the  necessities  of  the  home  and  the  community  in  general.  In  order  to 
make  sure  that  the  plan  is  thoroughly  understood  it  seems  desirable  to  enumerate 
the  main  features,  which  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  supervising  teachers  are  qualified  to  enter  sympathetically  into  the 
problems  of  education  in  village  or  rural  areas.  They  are  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  conviction  that  school  activities  must  be  related  to  the  life  of  the  individual 
and  the  community.  To  be  sure  not  all  supervising  teachers  are"  equal  in  their 
appreciation  of  the  essentials  of  educational  adaptation  as  outlined  in  Chapter  II  of 
this  Report,  but  they  are  prepared  to  persuade  the  teacher  of  the  local  school  to  direct 
the  school  activities  toward  the  improvement  of  the  individual  and  the  community. 

2.  Probably  the  most  important  element  in  the  methods  of  the  supervisory 
teacher  is  to  initiate  the  necessary  educational  changes  by  actual  demonstration 
in  cooperation  with  the  teacher  and  pupils  rather  than  by  talks  or  memoranda. 
The  method  is  distinctly  "teaching  by  doing"  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  The  spirit 
and  method  are  essentially  friendly  and  inspirational  in  dealing  both  with  the  local 
teacher  and  the  pupils  as  well  as  the  community. 

3.  The  typical  method  of  procedure  requires  a  brief  outline  of  the  usual  activities 
of  the  supervisory  teacher  in  dealing  with  the  school.  The  first  contacts  with  the 
local  school  are  with  the  activities  actually  under  way  at  the  time  of  the  visit.  These 
are  usually  the  teaching  of  the  three  R's.  The  visiting  teacher  tactfully  joins  in 
the  activities,  gradually  making  changes  in  the  classroom  instruction.  When  friendly 
contacts  have  been  made  the  teachers  proceed  as  rapidly  as  circumstances  warrant 
from  one  phase  of  school  life  to  the  other  until  all  possible  improvements  have  been 
realized.  The  first  visit  may  be  of  very  brief  duration,  not  more  than  half  a  day,  or 
it  may  continue  for  three  or  four  or  even  six  days,  the  duration  of  the  visit  depend- 
ing entirely  upon  conditions  at  the  school  and  the  responsibilities  of  the  supervisor 
for  schools  elsewhere.  The  influence  of  the  supervising  teacher  extends  from  the 
teaching  of  the  three  R's  to  other  activities  of  the  school.  The  teacher  is  shown 
how  to  enrich  the  curriculum  by  the  addition  of  simple  instruction  and  practice 
in  household  activities  for  the  girls  and  handicrafts  for  the  boys.  The  theory  and 
practice  of  gardening  eventually  obtain  a  rank  equal  to  that  of  the  three  R's.  When- 
ever possible  these  activities  are  taught  in  connection  with  a  neighboring  home  so 
that  they  may  be  more  real  in  their  influence.    The  handicrafts  are  used  for  the 


54 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


repairs  and  improvement  of  the  school  building  and  environment.  Through  repeated 
visits  the  supervisory  teacher  extends  the  influence  of  the  school  into  the  neigh- 
borhood so  that  the  homes  and  the  farms  reflect  the  interest  of  teachers  and  pupils. 
Parents'  leagues  and  boys'  and  girls'  clubs  are  formed  for  the  introduction  of  health- 
ful recreation  and  the  general  improvement  of  the  community.  Church,  school, 
home,  and  farm  are  thus  united  for  the  general  welfare. 

The  Education  Commission  is  emphatically  of  the  opinion  that  this  system  of 
supervisory  teachers  could  be  introduced  by  colonial  governments  and  mission 
societies  for  the  supervision  of  the  village  schools  in  every  part  of  Africa.  The  middle 
schools  would  be  the  natural  home  station  for  such  teachers.  They  would  go  out 
for  regular  visitation  among  the  outstation  schools.  Dr.  C.  T.  Loram,  well-known 
as  an  authority  on  Native  education  in  South  Africa,  has  said  that  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  such  teachers  lies  the  chief  hope  for  the  betterment  of  the  Native  schools  in 
South  Africa,  and  he  might  well  have  added  that  therein  is  the  chief  hope  for 
Native  schools  in  all  of  Africa. 

General  Administration 

In  addition  to  the  organization  of  the  school  activities  there  are  other  important 
phases  of  administration  that  are  frequently  overlooked.  The  more  important  of 
these  are,  first,  business  management  and  financial  accounts,  second,  records  of 
teachers,  pupils,  and  their  activities,  and  third,  the  construction  of  buildings  and 
the  planning  of  grounds.  The  effective  and  economical  administration  of  education 
requires  that  there  shall  be  careful  records  kept  of  the  financial  resources,  the 
equipment,  and  the  personnel  of  the  institutions.  While  there  has  probably  been 
some  waste  through  carelessness,  some  loss  of  efficiency  from  lack  of  proper  records, 
and  some  defects  in  building  and  equipment,  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  one  of  the 
greatest  values  of  records  would  be  to  reveal  the  remarkable  mission  achievements 
that  have  been  secured  through  small  expenditures.  Such  an  exhibit  would  in  itself 
justify  the  maintenance  of  financial  and  student  records.  The  civilized  world  needs 
to  have  a  more  definite  comprehension  of  the  services  rendered  by  missionaries 
laboring  in  loneliness  and  in  the  face  of  many  diflSculties  with  astoundingly 
inadequate  support  from  the  home  countries.  But  there  are  also  direct  advantages 
to  the  missionaries  in  the  more  effective  management  of  their  schools  and  churches. 
The  Education  Commission  recommends  that  church  boards  assist  their  missions 
to  formulate  a  system  of  financial  accounts  and  student  records  and  to  give  careful 
thought  to  the  planning  of  their  buildings  and  the  general  lay-out  of  their  stations. 
Some  excellent  illustrations  of  these  features  of  general  administration  have  been 
observed.  It  is  not  possible  to  present  recommendations  concerning  the  details  of 
administration.  The  following  suggestions  are  offered,  however,  for  the  consideration 
of  church  boards  and  mission  stations. 

School  Accounts 

1.  A  system  of  accounts  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  school  should  be  installed 
and  the  books  audited  annually. 


ORGANIZATION  AND  SUPERVISION 


55 


2.  An  inventory  should  he  made  showing  the  vahie  and  extent  of  land,  buildings, 
and  movable  equipment. 

3.  An  annual  school  budget  should  be  prepared  showing  the  details  of  probable 
income  and  estimated  expenditure  during  the  year  for  the  various  departments  and 
activities  of  the  institution,  such  as  administration,  instruction,  maintenance  of 
buildings  and  grounds,  additions  and  improvements,  travel  and  transportation, 
fuel,  light,  and  water,  supplies,  equipment,  and  transactions  with  students  and  trades- 
men. Where  an  institution  is  administered  through  departments,  the  budget  should 
show  the  appropriations  and  expenditures  for  the  various  activities  of  each  depart- 
ment. Such  a  budget  will  not  only  provide  a  means  of  controlling  the  expenditures 
during  any  year,  but  will  also  furnish  accurate  figures  for  comparison  of  similar 
expenditures  from  year  to  year. 

4.  The  accounts  should  be  arranged  in  accordance  with  the  budget  schedules  and 
as  far  as  possible  should  include  an  account  for  each  item  of  the  budget,  as  well  as  for 
interdepartmental  transactions.  It  is  of  course  to  be  understood  that  all  the  accounts 
should  be  kept  in  accordance  with  principles  of  double-entry  bookkeeping  in  its 
most  simple  form. 

Student  Records 

1.  The  student  records  should  show  the  name,  home  address,  place  and  date 
of  birth  and  religious  preference  of  the  applicant;  name,  home  address,  and 
occupation  of  the  parents;  preparatory  training  of  the  pupil,  including  the  names 
of  the  schools  attended,  and  the  length  of  time  spent  in  each. 

2.  The  record  should  show  the  progress  of  the  pupil  in  the  classroom,  in  general 
work,  in  health,  and  in  character  development.  Some  schools  have  found  it  profit- 
able to  record  such  character  qualities  as  ability  to  comprehend  instructions,  prompt- 
ness, courtesy,  accuracy,  personal  appearance. 

3.  A  system  of  recording  the  progress  of  ex-students  has  great  value,  not  only 
as  a  measurement  of  what  the  school  is  doing  but  also  as  a  directive  influence  in  the 
life  of  the  pupil  wherever  he  may  be.  Such  a  system  may  be  effected  by  endeavoring 
to  obtain  an  annual  communication  from  ex-students. 

Buildings  and  Grounds 

The  following  suggestions  have  been  assembled  from  various  sources  dealing 
with  buildings  in  Africa: 

1.  Careful  consideration  should  be  given  to  the  altitude,  prevailing  wind,  rainfall,  drainage,  water 
supply,  the  view,  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  proximity  to  Native  populations,  and  the  possibilities  of  getting 
rid  of  dangerous  insects  and  pests  such  as  mosquitoes  and  tsetse  flies.  The  direction  of  the  sun  will  locate 
the  heat  and  the  shade;  the  run-off  of  the  rain  will  show  the  slope  and  the  nature  of  the  soil;  and  the  direc- 
tion of  the  wind  will  indicate  the  cool  and  cold  exposures.  Most  important  of  all  is  it  to  avoid  mosquito- 
breeding  places  and  to  make  sure  of  an  adequate  supply  of  pure  water. 

2.  The  location  and  plan  of  the  buildings  should  be  determined  by  the  direction  of  the  rays  of  the 
sun,  and  by  local  drainage.    As  far  as  possible  a  general  plan  should  be  evolved  and  adopted  for  future 


56 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


extension  and  development  of  the  plant.  Accept  suggestions  offered  by  existing  natural  features  and 
face  the  buildings  inward  and  towards  each  other  unless,  owing  to  the  excessive  slope  of  the  land  or  to 
other  considerations,  such  an  arrangement  is  impracticable.  A  plan  like  this  will  save  time  and  expense 
and  will  result  in  a  more  orderly  and  attractive  appearance. 

3.  Cheap  construction  is  not  usually  economical.  It  is  better  economy  to  construct  buildings  small, 
durable,  and  ready  for  extension  than  to  buihl  commodiously  and  cheaply.  It  is  better  to  omit  useless 
towers,  spires,  galvanized  iron  embellishments,  etc.,  than  to  economize  on  the  foundations  or  the  strength 
and  durability  of  the  building. 

4.  The  material  should  receive  careful  consideration.  In  a  humid  climate  wood  is  the  least  desirable 
of  all.  Sun-dried  bricks  are  satisfactory,  cheap,  and  lasting,  if  the  clay  is  suitable  and  the  walls  are  properly 
protected.    Burnt  bricks  are  on  the  whole  better,  and  concrete  is  best  of  aU. 

5.  Tlie  foundation  should,  if  possible,  be  constructed  of  stone  and  high  enough  to  protect  from  excessive 
moisture.  Ventilation  should  be  provided  where  the  climate  is  humid  or  the  soil  damp. 

6.  Mosquito  proofing  should  be  used  wherever  necessary.  This  requires  special  care  that  no  holes  be 
left  large  enough  for  mosquitoes  to  enter,  and  constant  care  should  be  exercised  with  regard  to  doors  and 
windows.   Imperfect  joints  frequently  admit  mosquitoes.  Screen  doors  should  open  out. 

7.  In  most  sections  provision  for  ant  proofing  should  be  made.  This  is  accomplished  through  careful 
cementing  of  floors,  by  use  of  burnt  tiles,  or  by  treating  earth  floors  with  boiling  tar.  Tar  may  also  be 
used  through  the  walls  and  on  the  outside  of  buildings.  All  frames  should  be  treated  with  some  ant-proof 
preparation  or  should  be  charred. 

8.  Tiles,  where  available,  make  the  best  roof.  Roofs  should  not  be  lined  close  up  to  the  rafters,  lest 
a  hiding  place  for  rats,  bats,  etc.,  be  furnished.  A  large  air  space  where  light  and  air  can  enter  freely  is  best. 

School  Log  Book 

The  English  custom  requu-ing  school  officers  to  keep  a  "Log  Book"  indicating  the 
important  facts  for  each  school  day  results  in  one  of  the  best  forms  of  school  records 
observed  in  Africa.  The  facts  reported  are  necessarily  rather  general.  Usually 
they  include  attendance  for  the  day,  time  of  opening  and  closing  school,  visitation 
by  inspectors,  school  patrons,  and  visitors,  and  comments  made  by  visitors  on  the 
character  of  the  work.  The  value  of  the  book  partly  depends  on  the  interest  and 
ability  of  the  teacher.  Its  simplicity,  its  adaptability  to  many  types  of  schools, 
and  its  continuity  from  day  to  day  and  year  to  year  make  the  "Log  Book"  a  very 
effective  mejins  of  ascertaining  the  condition  and  progress  of  the  schools. 


Cjiaptek  IV 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  MASSES  AND  OF  NATIVE 

LEADERSHIP 

Education  must  be  planned  with  full  regard  both  for  the  elevation  of  the  masses  and 
for  the  development  and  training  of  Native  leaders.  At  present  many  missions  do  not 
seem  to  be  conscious  of  this  necessary  differentiation.  Some  have  been  intent  on  offering 
education  and  religion  to  the  masses  of  the  people  seemingly  with  no  provision  for 
Native  leadership.  Others  are  maintaining  schools  of  the  so-called  "higher  types" 
with  little  evidence  of  preparing  their  students  to  serve  the  masses  of  the  people. 
A  fundamental  requisite  of  effective  training  of  the  masses  is  the  determination 
to  produce  Native  leaders  of  moral  force  who  will  help  extend  education  far  and 
wide.  Equally  fundamental  is  the  requisite  that  the  education  of  Native  leadership 
shall  be  definitely  rooted  in  the  needs  of  the  masses  of  the  people.  The  interde- 
pendence of  these  two  educational  ends  is  certain  and  inevitable.  Lower  schools 
must  open  wide  the  door  of  educational  development,  the  upper  schools  must  be 
vitally  sympathetic  to  the  oncoming  group,  and  both  higher  and  lower  schools  must 
have  real  regard  for  the  life  of  the  people  and  the  community. 

Consciousness  of  the  Native  millions  seems  to  be  realized  as  yet  only  by  a 
very  few.  The  immensity  of  numbers,  the  extensive  areas  of  population,  and  the 
primitive  and  sometimes  barbarous  character  of  the  people  often  seem  to  constitute 
an  overwhelming  responsibility  to  both  missions  and  governments.  However  difficult 
the  task,  it  must  be  undertaken  if  the  possibilities  of  the  people  and  country  are 
to  be  realized.  Resources  of  soil,  minerals,  and  water-power  depend  for  their  de- 
velopment upon  the  effective  education  of  all  the  people.  Economic  prosperity  and 
the  educational  development  of  the  people  are  inextricably  interwoven.  The  ultimate 
test  of  colonization  is  not,  however,  in  the  exploitation  of  physical  resources.  The 
final  test  is  in  the  civilization  of  the  Native  people. 

The  colonial  chapters  of  this  Report  indicate  the  extent  to  which  governments 
and  missions  have  succeeded  in  this  great  responsibility.  As  yet  they  have  really 
made  only  a  beginning.  In  determining  the  extent  of  educational  influence  the  Com- 
mission has  accepted  the  proportion  of  the  total  population  usually  regarded  as  of 
school  age.  According  to  statistical  usage  the  children  between  6  and  14  years  of  age 
constitute  about  one-fifth  of  the  total  population.  This  represents  the  minimum 
number  of  children  for  which  civilized  nations  require  educational  facilities.  In 
South  Africa,  where  school  facilities  are  at  their  best,  only  one-fifth  of  this  number 
are  in  school.  In  banner  colonies  like  the  Gold  Coast,  provision  is  made  for  only 
one-tenth  of  the  minimum  required  in  civilized  countries.  In  others  the  propor- 
tion of  the  Native  youth  in  any  kind  of  school  is  almost  negligible.  Even  on  the 
quantitative  test,  educational  facilities  in  Africa  are  really  only  a  promise  of  what 
should  and  what  can  be  done  for  the  masses  in  this  great  continent.   A  qualitative 


58 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


test  of  education  according  to  the  principle  of  adaptation  to  the  needs  of  the  people 
would  turn  out  still  less  favorably. 

It  is  hardly  fair,  of  course,  to  measure  educational  influences  solely  by  schools 
or  even  churches.  In  the  colonial  chapters  of  this  Report  are  outlined  the  indirect 
educational  influences  of  such  government  departments  as  agriculture,  health, 
public  works,  colonial  administration,  and  law  enforcement.  In  most  of  the  colonies 
these  departments  are  exerting  a  very  definite  influence  for  the  improvement  of  the 
Native  people.  In  primitive  countries  schools  and  churches  are  vitally  dependent 
upon  the  preservation  of  law  and  order,  the  enforcement  of  health  regulations,  the 
encouragement  of  agricultural,  industrial,  and  commercial  activities,  the  extension 
of  highways  and  railroads,  the  opening  of  river  navigation,  and  the  construction  of 
port  facilities.  Credit  must  also  be  given  to  many  activities  of  commercial  concerns 
that  have  cooperated  in  the  encouragement  of  the  Native  people.  With  full  ap- 
preciation of  the  helpful  influences  of  governments  and  commercial  concerns,  how- 
ever, it  must  be  said  that  only  a  beginning  has  hitherto  been  made  in  the  education 
of  the  Native  people. 

There  has  also  been  much  confusion  as  to  the  place  and  value  of  Native  leaders 
in  colonial  development.  The  tendency  to  discount  the  Native  leadership  of  a 
primitive  people  is  almost  universal.  Such  depreciation  often  exists  on  the  part 
of  one  civilized  group  toward  another  as  well  as  among  uncivilized  groups  in  inter- 
tribal relations.  It  is  not  strange  that  Europeans  of  education  and  power  should 
fail  to  understand  the  possibilities  of  Natives  as  guides  of  their  own  people.  Some 
Europeans  seem  even  to  resent  the  suggestion  of  Native  participation  in  the  leader- 
ship of  their  own  people.  These  antagonistic  attitudes  toward  Native  leadership 
and  even  any  degree  of  education  for  the  Native  people  are  based  in  part  upon  the 
general  tendency  to  undervalue  primitive  peoples;  but  they  are  also  due  to  the  type  of 
education  that  has  been  too  often  attempted  in  the  past.  It  is  difiicult  to  imagine 
greater  errors  than  those  that  have  been  committed  in  the  name  of  education  not 
only  in  Africa,  but  also  in  Europe  and  America.  The  chapter  on  educational  adap- 
tations presents  some  of  these  errors  and  indicates  what  is  really  desired  in  the  edu- 
cation of  the  Africans  as  well  as  of  Europeans  and  Americans.  If  the  training  of  the 
youth  of  civilized  countries  depended  entirely  upon  the  schools  the  results  would 
often  be  very  disappointing.  The  training  of  civilized  youth  is  the  combined  result 
of  the  home,  the  church,  the  shop,  the  farm,  the  government,  and  numerous  other 
social  institutions  potent  in  their  influence.  Among  primitive  people  the  school 
and  the  mission  are  almost  alone  in  the  task  of  mouldmg  the  life  of  the  youth,  and 
whatever  failures  may  occur  are  directly  chargeable  to  them.  Educationists 
are  now  actively  changing  education  in  Europe  and  America.  Thoughtful  Natives 
are  beginning  to  realize  that  they  have  not  had  the  broader  type  of  education  they 
needed  and  also  that  fundamental  qualities  of  their  own  groups  have  not  only  been 
disregarded  but  often  condemned. 

However  difiicult  it  may  be  to  understand  the  contribution  Natives  can  make 
in  the  teaching  and  direction  of  their  people,  effective  education  and  sound  govern- 


EDUCATION  OF  MASSES  AND  NATIVE  LEADERSHIP 


59 


ment  require  the  training  of  Native  leadership  to  participate  in  all  the  activities 
of  colonial  life.  It  is  not  the  thought  that  this  leadership  is  to  he  composed  of  Africans 
who,  having  lost  their  appreciation  of  their  own  people  and  Native  country,  center 
their  whole  interest  in  European  or  American  modes  of  life.  It  is  not  without  reason 
that  Europeans  and  Africans  are  beginning  to  lose  their  admiration  for  Anglicized 
or  other  forms  of  Euroi)eanized  Africans.  The  increasing  enthusiasm  of  Native 
peoples  the  world  over  for  self-determination  and  nationalization  is  sound  and  helpful 
so  long  as  it  makes  for  self-respect.  It  is  unfortunate  only  when  it  results  in  distrust 
or  hostility  toward  other  peoples.  Every  people  must  have  some  of  its  own  to 
serve  as  leaders.  In  a  vast  continent  like  Africa,  it  will  be  increasingly  difficult 
to  teach  and  guide  the  masses  of  the  people  without  the  aid  of  Native  teachers. 
Europe  and  America  cannot  supply  a  sufficient  number  of  white  people  to  be  the 
teachers  of  the  Africans.  Even  if  it  were  possible  to  obtain  large  numbers  of  Euro- 
peans, there  would  still  be  the  need  for  Native  leaders  whose  blood  relationships 
enable  them  to  understand  their  own  people  in  a  peculiarly  effective  manner.  The 
task  now  confronting  colonial  officers  and  missions  is  the  organization  of  educational 
facilities  for  the  training  of  Native  leadership  that  shall  conserve  what  is  sound  in 
Native  life  and  transmit  the  best  that  civilization  and  Christianity  have  to  offer. 

The  fundamental  principles  of  mass  and  leadership  education  have  been  out- 
lined at  length  in  the  chapter  on  educational  adaptations.  The  organization  and 
supervision  of  educational  systems  have  been  presented  in  another  chapter.  The 
following  paragraphs  present  suggestions  as  to  the  content  of  various  grades  and 
activities  of  education,  first  for  the  masses  and  second  for  the  varying  forms  of 
Native  leadership. 

EDUCATION  OF  THE  MASSES 

The  principal  agencies  for  the  education  of  the  masses  are  first,  the  local  day 
schools  and  the  middle  schools;  second,  various  forms  of  community  extension 
activities;  third,  the  government  departments  concerned  with  the  general  welfare 
of  the  colony.  Hitherto  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  very  clearly  defined 
effort  to  extend  the  influence  of  these  agencies  to  the  people  as  a  whole.  The  first  step 
in  the  extension  of  education  to  the  masses  of  the  people  is  to  realize  the  possibilities 
presented  by  these  agencies  and  to  work  out  these  possibilities  so  far  as  funds  and 
personnel  are  available.  The  usual  comment  made  by  colonial  administrators  to 
this  recommendation  is  that  neither  government  nor  missions  have  sufficient  funds 
to  carry  out  an  extensive  program.  It  is  true  that  the  complete  program  requires 
considerable  money.  It  is  to  be  understood,  however,  that  the  program  may  be 
initiated  at  a  comparatively  small  cost  by  the  use  of  organizations  and  facilities 
already  in  existence.  In  fact  it  is  best  that  the  extension  work  shall  be  begun  modestly 
and  developed  normally.  When  the  existing  facilities  are  being  used  to  their  utmost, 
the  simpler  forms  of  extension  activities  may  be  added.  The  most  important  con- 
sideration of  all  in  determining  cost  is  the  fact  that  the  right  form  of  mass  education 
increases  the  productivity  of  local  communities  so  substantially  as  to  more  than 


60 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


reconi])cnse  the  government  for  the  expenditures  made.  American  experience  proves 
clearly  that  farm  demonstration,  boys'  corn  and  pig  clubs,  girls'  gardening  clubs, 
and  schools  with  practical  activities  have  added  not  only  to  the  comforts  of  the 
people,  but  also  have  made  possible  the  extension  of  education  and  other  improve- 
ments generally. 

Local  Day  School 

The  local  day  school  is  undoubtedly  the  most  effective  institution  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  masses.  It  is  essentially  the  frontier  station  of  education.  To  realize 
its  full  possibilities  in  reaching  the  masses  it  is  important  that  educators  shall  decide 
to  use  the  school  in  its  subnormal  status  as  well  as  in  its  full  development.  The 
wide  variations  in  the  possible  qualities  of  its  work  have  been  noted  in  the  chapter 
on  supervision.  Recognition  of  the  value  of  the  subnormal  standard  of  the  local 
day  school  must  be  accompanied  by  a  determination  to  provide  adequate  supervision 
and  effective  means  for  evolution  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  normal  standards.  The 
essential  qualities  of  the  teacher,  the  program,  and  the  equipment  are  here  presented. 

The  Teacher 

The  dictum  that  "the  teacher  is  the  school"  is  emphatically  true  of  the  local 
schools.  Building  and  program  are  unimportant  as  compared  with  the  qualities 
of  the  teacher.  The  minimum  requirements  should  be  character  to  withstand  the 
temptations  of  the  community,  knowledge  of  the  three  R's  and  of  health,  some  skill 
in  gardening  and  handicrafts,  and  a  determination  to  make  a  contribution  to  the 
improvement  of  the  community.  The  standard  educational  requirements  should  be 
the  completion  of  twelve  years  of  schooling,  including  teacher  training  formulated 
according  to  the  principles  of  educational  adaptation.  The  present  custom  of 
employing  only  men  as  teachers  in  these  schools  will  probably  be  continued  for  some 
time  to  come,  but  it  is  very  desirable  that  women  teachers  be  increasingly  employed 
when  conditions  warrant  the  change. 

School  Program 

The  maximum  program  of  the  local  day  school  should  cover  six  years.  This 
will  be  varied  according  to  the  general  standards  of  education  in  the  colony.  The 
daily  program  must  be  suited  to  the  conditions  determined  by  climate,  type  of  com- 
munity occupation,  and  state  of  civilization.  Wherever  possible,  daily  sessions  should 
comprise  classroom  instruction  in  the  morning  and  practical  instruction  and  recrea- 
tion in  the  afternoon.   The  activities  to  be  included  in  the  curriculum  are  as  follows: 

1.  Character  and  Religious  Training.  Provision  for  character  development  and  the  religious  life 
of  the  pupil  must  be  considered  in  connection  with  every  activity  of  the  school.  Certainly  it  should  not 
be  limited  to  devotional  exercises  or  even  to  the  teaching  of  the  Bible. 

2.  The  Language  of  Instruction.  The  local  school  must  make  all  possible  provision  for  instruction 
in  the  vernacular.  The  nature  and  extent  of  the  instruction  must  be  determined  by  local  circumstances. 
The  chief  end  to  be  considered  is  the  maintenance  of  normal  relationships  between  the  pupils  and  their 
people.  The  language  of  the  colonizing  power  should  be  introduced  as  a  second  language  as  soon  as  possible. 


EDUCATION  OF  MASSES  AND  NATIVE  LEADERSHIP 


61 


3.  The  Three  R's.  The  elements  of  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  are  essentials  of  mass  education. 
It  is  important  that  tlie  teaching  in  tliese  subjects  be  thorougli,  no  matter  how  Hmitcd  it  may  be  in  extent. 
The  teaching  slioidd,  as  far  as  possible,  be  related  to  the  village  activities. 

4.  Health.  The  recognition  of  health  as  a  school  subject  should  leave  the  pupil  with  no  doubt  as  to 
the  vital  importance  of  the  subject  in  the  program  of  school  activities.  The  practical  significance  of  health 
should  be  illustrated  by  the  condition  of  the  school  plant  and  by  the  school  activities. 

5.  Soil  Cultivation  and  Handicrafts.  A  substantial  part  of  the  day  should  be  devoted  to  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil  and  to  handicrafts.  This  should  be  done  as  a  school  activity  and  not  as  a  menial  task. 
Handicrafts  should  be  directed  first  of  all  to  the  repair  of  the  schoolroom,  next  to  the  needs  of  the  village, 
and  afterwards,  if  possible,  to  articles  of  commercial  or  decorative  value.  The  instruction  of  the  girls  in 
cooking  and  sewing  should  be  connected  as  much  as  possible  with  the  neighboring  homes.  Gardening  may 
be  carried  on  in  the  school  plat  or  in  connection  with  village  gardens.  This  must  be  determined  by  the 
school  sessions,  the  growing  seasons,  and  the  continuity  of  the  teacher's  residence  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  school. 

6.  Recreation.  Guidance  for  the  pupils  in  wholesome  recreation  should  be  provided  even  in  the 
lowest  type  of  school.  The  possibilities  of  recreation  for  the  improvement  of  physical  life  and  morals 
are  too  vital  to  be  omitted  in  any  school.  The  best  of  the  Native  games,  and  especially  music,  offer  much 
material  for  the  resourceful  teacher. 

7.  History,  Geography,  and  Elementary  Science.  The  complete  organization  of  the  day  school  will 
necessarily  provide  for  instruction  in  these  three  subjects.  Their  content  will  of  course  be  related  first 
of  all  to  African  life  and  especially  to  the  immediate  environment  of  the  school.  History  will  begin  with 
the  heroes  and  important  events  of  the  past  and  especially  with  the  struggles  of  parents  and  grandparents 
to  obtain  food  and  shelter  and  the  larger  opportunities  of  civilization.  Geography  will  help  the  pupils  to 
know  the  resources  of  their  own  country,  the  beauty  of  river,  forest,  plains  or  mountains,  and  the  relations, 
both  actual  and  potential,  of  their  Native  country  to  other  parts  of  the  world.  Elementary  science  should 
aim  to  explain  simply  the  ordinary  natural  happenings  of  plant,  animal,  and  physical  life  about  the  school. 
Thus  even  the  child  could  understand  that  water  disappears  from  the  open  vessel  by  natural  absorption 
into  the  air  rather  than  by  the  occult  powers  which  the  fetish  man  uses  for  his  own  dreaded  control  of  the 
children  and  their  parents. 

The  Building  and  Equipment 

The  building  and  equipment  have  possibiHties  of  great  variety  to  be  determined 
by  numerous  conditions.  The  schoolliouse  may  be  merely  a  rounded  dome  of  palmetto 
leaves  protecting  children  from  rain  and  sun,  or  it  may  be  a  well-constructed  build- 
ing designed  with  due  regard  for  tropical  conditions  and  with  facilities  for  teaching 
all  the  activities  above  outlined.  With  any  type  of  building  there  may  be  a  garden, 
a  playground,  and  a  teacher's  house  not  far  away.  There  should  be  every  possible 
regard  for  the  building  materials  and  customs  of  the  community.  The  laws  of  sani- 
tation should  be  observed  not  only  within  the  schoolroom  but  also  in  the  provision  for 
playground  and  outhouses.  The  necessary  equipment  for  classroom,  handicrafts, 
and  playground  may  be  made  by  the  ingenious  teacher.  Seating  arrangements  should 
have  regard  for  the  size  and  age  of  the  pupils.  The  blackboard  should  be  located 
with  due  regard  for  the  light. 

The  Middle  School 

The  position  of  the  middle  school  varies  in  different  colonies.  It  is  important  to 
understand  this  varying  status  in  order  that  school  administrators  may  have  a  clear 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


conception  of  the  responsibility  of  this  type  of  school.  In  general  these  positions 
may  be  described  as  follows : 

1.  Under  the  primitive  conditions  of  mission  fields  like  those  of  tlie  Congo, 
schools  corresponding  to  the  middle  schools  have  been  the  highest  educational  insti- 
tutions in  the  colony.  Their  curricula  have  usually  not  proceeded  beyond  the  fourth 
and  fifth  grades.  At  present  an  earnest  endeavor  is  being  made  to  develop  some 
of  these  schools  so  that  they  may  provide  instruction  equivalent  to  that  of  the  sixth, 
seventh,  and  eighth  grades.  Within  the  next  few  years  the  government  and  missions 
will  undoubtedly  combine  to  add  instruction  of  a  secondary  grade.  For  the  present, 
however,  it  is  clear  that  the  schools  which  will  probably  become  middle  schools 
of  the  Congo  are  the  only  agencies  for  the  training  of  leaders.  They  are  so  immedi- 
ately vital  for  the  training  of  the  teachers  of  the  masses  as  to  warrant  their  classi- 
fication in  connection  with  mass  education. 

2.  In  Natal  this  type  is  known  as  the  intermediate  school,  and  provides  instruc- 
tion of  the  fifth  and  sixth  standards.  The  schools  have  been  organized  in  order 
to  consolidate  the  small  number  of  pupils  in  these  standards  into  schools  with  better 
equipment.  They  are  definitely  a  part  of  the  local  school  system  rather  than  cen- 
tralized institutions  for  the  training  of  teachers.  With  the  progress  of  education 
it  is  probable  that  the  work  of  these  intermediate  schools  in  Natal  will  be  merged 
with  that  of  the  local  schools. 

The  Education  Commission  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  wise  policy  is  to  recognize 
the  two  functions  of  the  so-called  middle  schools  as  they  are  described  above.  In 
the  beginning  of  educational  work  in  the  colonies  it  is  evident  that  the  mission 
stations  furnish  the  only  training  for  teachers  and  leaders.  In  the  second  stage, 
represented  by  the  more  advanced  system  of  a  province  like  Natal,  these  schools 
become  a  part  of  the  local  elementary  system,  but  differentiated  by  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  upper  elementary  grades  for  several  communities.  Under  the  latter 
conditions  mass  education  is  carried  on  by  a  local  school  including  about  three  years 
of  education  and  intermediate  or  middle  schools  offering  instruction  three  or  four 
years  above  the  local  school.  Reference  has  been  made  in  the  chapter  on  organi- 
zation to  the  corresponding  type  of  American  school  for  Negroes  known  as  the 
county  training  school.  In  the  Natal  stage  of  development,  as  in  that  represented 
in  certain  rural  districts  of  the  American  states  where  the  school  facilities  are  in- 
adequate and  the  teachers  poorly  trained,  it  is  very  important  that  school  authorities 
shall  encourage  the  organization  of  the  county  training  school  type  so  that  they  may 
be  able,  first,  to  train  the  substandard  teachers  required  during  the  period  of  rapid 
development;  second,  to  act  as  the  central  station  from  which  the  traveling  super- 
visor may  go  to  direct  and  encourage  the  local  schools;  and  third,  to  provide  educa- 
tion of  the  upper  elementary  grades  for  the  pupils  promoted  from  the  local  schools. 
As  the  local  schools  strengthen  and  extend  their  work  they  will  take  over  the  functions 
of  the  middle  or  county  training  school  and  the  teacher-training  features  of  the 
middle  school  will  be  transferred  to  schools  of  secondary  grade. 


EDUCATION  OF  INIASSES  AND  NATIVE  LEADERSHIP 


63 


The  ideal  type  of  rural  school  to  be  ultimately  realized  is  best  represented  by 
the  Rosenwald  schools  of  America.  These  have  been  made  possible  by  the  gifts 
of  Mr.  Julius  Rosenwald,  an  American  philanthropist  who  with  the  late  Dr.  Booker 
T.  Washington  conceived  the  idea  of  encouraging  the  development  of  rural  schools 
by  offering  to  cooperate  with  the  school  authorities  and  the  Negro  peoj)le  of  any 
community  in  the  erection  of  a  rural  school  intended  to  influence  community 
life.  The  plan  has  had  remarkable  success.  The  Negro  people  have  themselves 
given  large  sums,  the  local  government  has  appropriated  its  part,  and  Mr.  Rosen- 
wald has  given  generously.  So  thoroughly  is  the  idea  now  accepted  that  the  local  school 
authorities  will  probably  carry  on  the  work  on  their  own  initiative.  The  important 
features  of  the  Rosenwald  schools  may  be  summed  up  as  follows: 

The  type  plant  has  been  designed  by  architects  who  have  considered  the  varying 
purposes  of  the  school,  the  climate,  and  the  available  material  of  the  country.  The 
main  building  is  so  arranged  as  to  make  possible  additional  rooms  as  the  demands  of 
the  community  increase.  The  simplest  form  of  school  has  one  large  room,  with 
alcoves  for  the  teaching  of  special  activities,  such  as  cooking,  sewing,  and  simple 
handicrafts.  There  is  in  all  schools  space  for  gardening  and  recreation.  In  the 
more  complete  schools  there  are  classrooms  for  at  least  three  teachers,  a  comfortable 
home  for  the  head  teacher  and  his  wife,  and  smaller  buildings  for  the  teaching  of  work 
in  W'Ood  and  iron  and  other  handicrafts.  The  teacher's  home  is  a  vital  part  of  the 
instructional  system.  The  girls  share  in  all  the  duties  of  home  life.  As  the  needs  of 
the  teacher's  family  necessitate  the  maintenance  of  a  garden  and  such  domestic 
animals  as  the  cow,  the  pig,  and  chickens,  the  school  activities  are  made  real  by 
participation  in  the  care  of  these  simple  but  vital  needs  of  the  rural  home.  Such  a 
school  becomes  the  neighborhood  center.  From  it  there  radiate  influences  that 
make  for  the  improvement  of  economic  conditions,  sanitation  and  health,  recrea- 
tion and  morals. 

Community  Activities 

Community  activities  for  the  improvement  of  the  masses  of  the  people  have  been 
organized  and  maintained  by  schools,  churches,  government,  and  sometimes  by 
commercial  concerns.  Often  there  is  cooperation  of  one  or  more  of  these  agencies  in 
extension  work.  The  most  significant  development  of  these  agencies  in  recent  times 
has  been  the  provision  to  extend  their  influence  among  city  people.  So  striking 
has  been  this  development  in  some  cities  as  to  impel  one  student  of  modern  life  to 
write  a  book  entitled  "The  City,  the  Hope  of  Democracy."  In  this  treatise  the 
writer  presents  the  impressive  results  of  altruistic  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  city  population.  The  achievements  described  include  the  provisions  for 
pure  water,  sewage  disposal,  control  of  contagious  disease,  healthful  recreation, 
libraries,  and  other  means  of  improving  morals  and  rnorale.  Similar  provisions 
have  been  made  for  rural  areas  in  some  parts  of  the  world  so  that  the  results  rival, 
and  in  many  respects  surpass,  those  achieved  in  the  cities.  Some  of  these  activities 
have  been  described  in  other  chapters.  For  the  convenience  of  the  reader  their 
relation  to  the  education  of  the  masses  is  indicated  herewith. 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


School  and  Church  Extension 

Some  of  the  more  important  methods  of  extending  tlie  influenee  of  the  school 
and  church  to  both  urban  and  rural  communities  have  been  described  under 
these  topics  in  the  chapter  on  educational  adaptations.  The  Education  Com- 
mission was  frequently  disajjjjointed  to  observe  the  narrow  conception  which  the 
teachers  and  religious  workers  often  had  of  their  responsibility.  Too  frequently  the 
teacher  seemed  content  with  the  transfer  of  a  few  facts  to  the  minds  of  his  pupils, 
and  the  religious  worker  satisfied  when  he  had  exjjlained  to  the  Native  people  the 
way  of  salvation.  The  realization  of  the  community  implication  of  education  and 
religion  is  bound  to  strengthen  and  inspire  these  important  agents  of  civilization. 

Welfare  Work  of  Commercial  and  Industrial  Concerns 

The  possibilities  of  commercial  and  industrial  concerns  in  welfare  work  not  only 
for  their  employees  l)ut  for  the  people  of  their  communities  are  among  the  interesting 
discoveries  of  modern  economic  organizations.  Considerable  helpful  influence  is 
exerted  by  these  organizations  as  an  incident  to  their  activities.  As  yet,  however,  the 
number  of  organizations  maintaining  and  consciously  directing  work  of  this  type  is 
negligible.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  so  few  concerns  realize  their  responsibility 
for  community  improvements.  Economists  have  long  ago  shown  that  economic  success 
is  conditioned  upon  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country  and  the  welfare  of  all  the 
people.  In  Europe  and  America  there  are  striking  illustrations  of  the  value  of 
such  interest  on  the  part  of  industrial  concerns.  In  the  African  colonies  visited  the 
illustrations  are  very  few  in  number  and  very  small  in  extent.  The  Lever  Companies 
on  the  Congo  and  the  Johannesburg  Gold  Mining  Companies  are  beginning  to  recog- 
nize the  value  of  community  welfare.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  European  officers 
responsible  for  the  economic  activities  in  Africa  will  make  it  possible  for  their  repre- 
sentatives immediately  in  charge  of  the  concerns  on  the  field  to  join  with  the  govern- 
ment and  missions  in  improving  every  phase  of  colonial  life.  The  nature  of  the 
activities  they  can  perform  and  the  order  in  which  they  should  engage  in  them  are 
probably  as  follows: 

1.  They  should,  of  course,  see  to  it  that  their  own  employees  are  living  under 
conditions  that  make  for  health  and  morals. 

2.  Their  officers  should  realize  that  the  larger  success  of  the  company  requires 
not  only  the  efficient  management  of  their  plant,  but  also  genuine  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  the  Native  community.  To  this  end  it  is  probable  that  the  company  will 
consider  it  wise  to  contribute  financially  to  agencies  already  at  work  in  the  com- 
munity. They  may  organize  night  schools  and  recreation  clubs,  and  participate 
whenever  possible  in  all  general  movements  for  the  well-being  of  the  colony. 

Extension  Activities  of  Government  Departments 

All  government  departments  are  directly  or  indirectly  concerned  with  the  masses 
of  the  people.  Departments  of  health  and  agriculture  are  very  directly  responsible 
for  many  phases  of  community  life.   Administrators  of  local  areas  usually  exert  very 


EDUCATION  OF  MASSES  AND  NATIVE  LEADERSHIP 


65 


definite  and  intimate  influence  on  large  grouj)S  of  Native  peoi)les.  The  military 
and  the  police  when  they  are  proi)crly  organized  and  supervised  not  only  j)reserve 
law  and  order,  hut  also  direct  the  peoj)le  in  movements  vital  to  the  health  and  general 
well-being  of  the  communities.  Departments  of  public  works  train  large  groufjs 
of  people  in  many  forms  of  skilled  work.  Thus  governments  have  been  exerting 
varying  degrees  of  influence  on  the  masses.  In  some  colonies  the  influence  is  sub- 
stantial and  noteworthy.  In  others  it  is  quite  limited.  In  some  instances  the  de- 
velopment of  the  Native  is  actually  retarded. 

Hitherto  comparatively  few  of  the  government  departments  have  appreciated 
adequately  their  responsibility  for  all  the  people.  They  have  been  rather  exclusively 
interested  in  the  technical  phases  of  their  work.  The  agricultural  department,  for 
example,  has  devoted  most  of  its  facilities  to  agricultural  research  and  experimentation 
to  the  neglect  of  the  practical  instruction  of  the  Native  people.  Even  the  health 
department  has  not  seemed  to  realize  its  possibilities  for  the  instruction  of  the  Natives 
in  sanitation  and  hygiene.  The  departments  are  not  altogether  responsible  for  the 
limitation  of  their  influence.  Inadequate  funds  and  personnel,  due  to  the  small 
government  appropriations,  have  undoubtedly  necessitated  the  narrowing  of  the 
field  of  their  activity.  The  first  step  in  the  widening  of  government  influences  is  the 
determination  of  the  government  to  enlarge  the  community  applications  of  every 
department.  Even  without  enlarged  appropriations,  some  improvement  can  be 
made.  The  important  results  to  be  realized  are  so  directly  beneficial  to  the  economic 
and  social  well-being  of  the  colony  as  to  merit  increased  expenditures. 

It  is  diflScult  to  exaggerate  the  influence  of  some  departments  of  government 
on  the  general  welfare  of  the  colony.  Thoroughly-equipped  health  departments  can 
in  the  course  of  time  practically  eliminate  preventable  diseases  from  almost  every 
colony  in  Africa.  In  a  comparatively  brief  time  they  can  enlarge  the  habitable  areas 
and  increase  the  w^orking  power  of  the  Natives.  The  agricultural  department  can 
spread  a  knowledge  of  the  essential  principles  of  soil  cultivation  among  thousands 
of  Natives  and  thus  modify  the  productivity  of  the  soil.  \Aliile  experimentation  is  of 
course  necessary,  every  department  of  agriculture  has  already  sufiicient  knowledge  to 
warrant  campaigns  for  the  dissemination  of  agricultural  methods  among  the  people. 
If  the  military  and  police  were  prepared  to  give  friendly  aid  and  encouragement  to 
the  Native  communities  it  would  add  much  to  the  progress  of  the  villages.  They  would 
thus  represent  not  only  the  authority  of  law  and  the  arbitrary  power  of  government, 
but  much  more  the  friendly  interest  of  the  government  in  village  recreation  and  the 
common  activities  of  the  tribal  life.  The  department  of  general  administration  can 
render  a  very  great  service  to  the  masses  of  the  people  through  the  selection  and  edu- 
cation of  local  administrators  who  will  follow  the  example  of  those  who  are  already 
working  with  the  Natives  not  only  as  their  rulers  but  also  as  their  friendly  counselors. 

EDUCATION  OF  NATIVE  LEADERSHIP 

The  various  forms  of  Native  leadership  presented  in  the  chapters  on  colonial 
education  involve,  first,  those  who  are  to  be  teachers  and  rehgious  workers;  second, 


66 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


those  who  are  to  specialize  in  agriculture  and  industry;  third,  those  who  are  to  enter 
the  professions  of  medicine,  theology,  engineering,  or  law.  These  teachers  and  lead- 
ers have  been  trained  in  mission  and  government  schools,  and  in  European  or  American 
institutions.  It  has  been  observed  that  the  African  schools  are  of  varying  grades 
and  types.  Most  have  been  limited  to  the  elementary  grades,  some  have  added  sub- 
jects of  secondary  standard,  only  two  have  offered  subjects  of  collegiate  grade,  and 
practically  all  have  combined  some  training  suited  to  the  various  types  of  leadership 
described  above.  The  wisdom  of  combining  the  various  educational  ends  in  one  insti- 
tution has  been  discussed  in  the  chapter  on  organization.  It  is  certain  that  the  ade- 
quate training  of  Native  leadership  requires,  first,  the  organization  of  secondary 
schools  accessible  to  Native  youth  in  every  colony;  second,  an  arrangement  whereby 
those  who  are  prepared  to  advance  still  further  may  enter  colleges  in  Africa,  Europe, 
or  America.  The  character  and  content  of  the  various  phases  of  education  for  leader- 
ship are  herewith  presented. 

Secondary  Education 

As  the  local  elementary  school  is  the  pioneer  station  for  education  for  the  masses, 
so  the  secondary  school  is  the  all-important  institution  for  training  almost  every 
type  of  leader  required  in  Africa.  It  is  therefore  essential  that  the  activities  of 
the  secondary  school  be  determined  with  the  utmost  regard  for  the  needs  of  such  lead- 
ership. The  type  of  secondary  education  should  vary  with  the  needs  of  the  community. 
It  is  apparent  that  an  effective  institution  in  the  rural  districts  must  be  organized  with 
reference  to  the  agricultural  life  of  the  people.  A  city  school  should  likewise  have 
regard  for  the  industrial,  hygienic,  and  educational  needs  of  the  urban  community. 
There  are  also  schools  that  select  special  objectives,  such  as  the  training  of  teachers, 
ministers,  farmers,  or  industrial  workers.  With  all  these  variations  there  are,  how- 
ever, a  number  of  subjects  and  activities  that  should  be  included  in  the  curriculum 
of  all  secondary  schools: 

Sciences — The  great  achievements  of  modern  times  are  largely  in  the  realm  of  the  physical  sciences. 
Physics,  chemistry,  and  biology  have  revolutionized  many  of  the  industrial  and  social  activities  of  man- 
kind. No  phase  of  secondary  education  is  more  vital  than  the  instruction  of  the  pupils  in  the  elements 
of  these  sciences.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  pupil  should  gain  power  to  apply  the  facts  and 
principles  of  science  and  to  interpret  natural  phenomena.  For  this  reason  the  teacher  of  science  should 
draw  largely  from  material  found  in  the  environment  and  should  by  no  means  confine  attention  to  the 
statements  in  the  textbook  or  to  the  laboratory  exercises.  The  work  in  science  should  be  so  organized 
as  to  lead  the  pupil  to  acquire  skill  in  manipulating  apparatus  and  in  dealing  intelligently  with  facts  and 
phenomena. 

Physiology,  Hygiene  and  Sanitation — The  principles  of  good  health  should  be  taught  both  in  the 
elementary  and  secondary  grades.  The  study  of  physiology  and  hygiene  is  of  value  not  only  in  the  im- 
provement of  health  conditions  but  also  in  the  development  of  a  scientific  point  of  view  by  the  pupils. 
There  is  probably  no  subject  more  effective  in  overcoming  superstition  in  all  its  forms  than  a  knowledge 
of  the  principles  that  underlie  the  health  of  the  individual  and  the  community.  With  the  discovery  that 
malaria  is  traceable  to  mosquitoes  and  typhoid  fever  to  flies  and  filth,  the  pupil  is  able  to  free  himself 
from  the  superstitions  of  his  community  and  begin  to  develop  a  scientific  attitude  toward  the  physical 
and  social  forces  that  surround  him.  For  the  African  people  with  a  death  rate  much  higher  than  that  of 
the  Europeans  it  is  most  important  that  something  should  be  done  to  give  a  comprehensive  knowledge 
of  physiology  and  hygiene  and  to  inculcate  habits  of  obedience  to  health  laws. 


EDUCATION  OF  MASSES  AND  NATIVE  LEADERSHIP 


67 


Social  Studies,  Including  History — Each  study  in  the  group  that  comprises  history,  community  civics, 
and  elementary  economics  has  great  possibilities  if  the  teacher  has  any  appreciation  of  the  remarkable 
social  forces  that  are  now  working  vital  changes  in  human  affairs.  Good  citizenship  should  be  the  aim  of 
social  studies  in  the  secondary  school.  While  the  administration  and  instruction  throughout  the  .school  should 
contribute  to  the  social  welfare  of  the  community,  it  is  maintained  that  social  studies  have  direct  responsi- 
bility in  this  field.  Facts,  conditions,  theories,  and  activities  that  do  not  contribute  rather  directly  to  the 
appreciation  of  methods  of  human  betterment  have  no  claim.  Under  this  test  the  old  civics,  almost  exclu- 
sively a  study  of  government  machinery,  must  give  way  to  the  new  civics,  a  study  of  all  manner  of  social 
efforts  to  improve  mankind.  In  line  with  this  emphasis  the  Commission  recommends  that  social  studies 
in  the  secondary  school  shall  include  such  topics  as  community  health,  housing,  and  homes,  public  recrea- 
tion, good  roads,  community  education,  poverty  and  the  care  of  the  poor,  crime  and  reform,  family  income, 
and  savings  banks  and  life  insurance.  It  is  one  of  the  essential  qualifications  of  the  good  citizen  to  be 
self-supporting,  and  by  the  activities  necessary  to  his  self-support  to  contribute  efficiently  to  the  world's 
work.  Not  only  is  it  important  that  this  fact  be  especially  emphasized  in  the  civic  education  of  the  youth, 
but  it  is  also  appropriate  that  he  be  given  as  much  enlightenment  as  possible  to  assist  him  in  choosing 
his  vocation  wisely  from  the  standpoint  of  social  efficiency. 

History,  too,  must  answer  the  test  of  good  citizenship.  The  old  chronicler  who  recorded  the  deeds  of 
kings  and  warriors  and  neglected  the  labors  of  the  common  man  is  of  the  past.  The  great  palaces  and  pyra- 
mids are  often  but  the  empty  shells  of  a  parasitic  growth  on  the  working  group.  The  joys  and  sorrows, 
the  hopes  and  disappointments  of  the  masses,  are  more  important  than  any  arrangement  of  wood  and  stone 
and  iron.  In  this  spirit  recent  history  is  more  important  than  that  of  ancient  times;  the  history  of  our  own 
country  than  that  of  foreign  lands;  the  record  of  our  own  institutions  and  activities  than  that  of  strangers; 
the  labors  and  plans  of  the  multitude  than  the  pleasures  and  desires  of  the  few.* 

Mathematics — Mathematics  has  a  genuine  claim  to  an  important  place  in  secondary  education.  Quanti- 
tative statements  of  all  physical  and  social  activities  demand  a  knowledge  of  mathematical  processes.  The 
manipulation  of  the  definite  relationships  of  exact  factors  as  they  appear  in  mathematics  is  a  most  valuable 
mental  activity,  which  all  pupils  should  have.  To  emotional  groups,  prone  to  action  without  adequate 
thought,  thorough  practice  in  mathematical  processes  is  essential.  The  questions  that  have  recently 
arisen  with  regard  to  the  place  of  mathematics  in  the  school  curriculum  do  not  pertain  to  the  essential  value 
of  this  subject.  The  points  of  doubt  are  on  such  questions  as:  How  much  time  shall  be  devoted  to  the 
various  branches  of  mathematics.'  How  much  should  mathematics  be  taught  in  problems  related  to  the  life 
of  the  pupU  and  the  community?  \^Tiat  are  the  relative  claims  of  mathematics  as  against  other  studies? 
The  answer  to  these  questions  for  Native  schools  should  probably  be  determined  by  the  very  inadequate 
instruction  in  arithmetic  given  in  the  elementary  schools  and  also  by  the  student's  need  of  other  subjects 
more  vitally  related  to  his  community.  It  is  probable  that  the  wise  course  for  a  majority  of  these  schools 
would  be  to  require  a  thorough  knowledge  of  fundamental  arithmetical  processes  with  sufficient  skill  for 
practical  use,  special  proficiency  in  the  applications  of  arithmetic  to  the  pupils'  occupations,  with  a  limited 
amount  of  algebra  and  geometry  to  aid  in  arithmetical  processes. 

Languages — It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  first  foreign  language  to  be  taught  is  that  of  the  European 
power  in  control.  Native  leadership  must  be  able  to  confer  freely  with  the  government.  The  selection 
of  a  second  foreign  language  and  the  time  to  be  assigned  to  it  in  African  schools  should  depend  entirely 
on  the  practical  and  cultural  value  of  the  study  of  that  language  in  comparison  with  other  subjects  or 
activities  in  the  course.  How  much  time  can  be  spared  for  Latin  when  the  pupil  has  not  a  respectable 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  sanitation?  Can  time  be  given  to  Greek  when  the  pupil  is  ignorant  of  the 
elements  of  physics  or  chemistry?  The  claims  of  Latin  will  require  special  consideration  in  behalf  of  the 
few  who  are  compelled  to  pass  the  conventional  tests  of  European  universities. 

Gardening  and  Rural  Economics — The  remarkable  achievements  of  scientific  agriculture  afford  ample 
basis  for  its  inclusion  in  secondary  education.  The  increasing  importance  of  the  rural  problem  in  colonial 
affairs  constitutes  a  further  claim  for  the  study  of  this  subject  in  high  schools.    In  a  continent  so  largely 

*These  and  other  recommendations  in  this  chapter  are  based  upon  the  report  of  the  Commission  on 
the  Reorganization  of  Secondary  Education  and  statements  in  Bulletin  1916,  No.  38,  of  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education,  Chapter  III. 


68 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


rural  as  Africa,  there  is  no  subject  of  more  vital  importance  than  the  appreciation  of  the  soil  and  its  possi- 
bilities. In  view  of  this,  it  is  surprising  that  the  study  of  agriculture  has  received  less  consideration  than 
even  the  mechanical  arts.  In  a  choice  of  agriculture  or  the  mechanical  arts  for  African  schools,  preference 
should  generally  be  given  to  agriculture,  not  only  because  it  represents  the  prevailing  occupation  of  the 
Africans,  but  also  becatise  the  expense  of  teaching  the  subject  is  much  less  than  that  of  the  mechanical  arts. 

Mechanical  and  Household  Arts — In  addition  to  the  "training  of  the  senses"  urged  by  those  who 
believe  in  handicrafts,  there  is  need  for  a  more  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  mechanical  activities  and 
household  arts  of  the  masses  of  the  people.  The  youth  of  the  land  should  have  an  opportunity  to  test 
out  their  interests  and  their  aptitudes  as  a  basis  for  the  selection  of  their  life  work.  The  young  women  are 
especially  in  need  of  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  home,  its  activities,  and  its  social  significance. 
If  these  are  necessary  elements  in  the  education  of  white  youth,  surely  the  African  youth  should  have 
every  opportunitj'  to  acquire  them.  Every  Native  high  school  should  provide  for  the  boys  some  training 
of  the  hand  in  mechanical  and  agricultural  activities  and  sufficient  knowledge  of  economic  and  social 
processes  to  show  the  place  of  this  skill  in  human  development.  For  the  girls  there  should  be  a  course 
in  household  arts  that  not  only  insures  practical  skill  but  also  an  appreciation  of  the  vital  place  of  the  home 
in  the  welfare  of  the  race. 

Supplementary  Subjects — Three  other  subjects  are  of  such  special  importance  that  their  claims  on 
secondary  education  must  be  mentioned.  These  three  subjects  are  business  methods,  music,  and  the  de- 
velopment of  good  taste  through  simple  lessons  in  art.  Sound  ideals  and  habits  in  business  are  fundamental 
to  all  people.  For  the  African  people,  just  beginning  their  business  activities,  it  is  absolutely  essential 
that  the  schools  shall  not  only  give  a  knowledge  of  business  methods,  but  that  they  shall  cultivate  habits 
of  accuracy,  promptness,  and  fidelity.  Music  is  described  by  one  school  as  the  "natural  heritage  of  the 
African,"  and  it  is  pointed  out  that  it  is  the  aim  of  the  school  to  turn  this  heritage  to  practical  account. 
Lessons  in  good  taste  are  of  value  in  the  care  of  the  home,  in  the  selection  of  dress,  and  in  improving  the 
appearance  of  the  neighborhood. 

General  Considerations — Provision  for  the  physical  sciences,  civics,  and  teacher-training,  the  industrial 
arts  and  gardening,  require  laboratory  and  library  facilities  far  beyond  those  now  available.  With  few 
exceptions,  the  secondary  schools  in  Africa  are  utterly  lacking  in  laboratories  or  libraries. 

It  is  well  known  that  secondary  and  college  teachers  everywhere  have  a  tendency  to  emphasize  the 
the  subject  matter  of  their  courses  to  the  neglect  of  methods  of  presentation.  It  is  not  surprising  that 
these  teachers,  filled  with  enthusiasm  for  the  great  truths  acquired  in  their  college  course,  should  overlook 
the  very  limited  experience  of  their  pupils  and  endeavor  to  teach  with  but  little  regard  for  the  pupil's  ability 
to  comprehend  the  facts.  The  result  is  unfortunate.  Although  the  pupils  are  eager  to  acquire  knowledge, 
their  home  life  and  their  elementary  education  have  been  such  that  they  can  not  be  expected  to  under- 
stand the  truths  which  the  young  teacher  so  fluently  outlines.  Too  much  emphasis  can  not  be  placed 
upon  the  teacher's  effort  to  understand  the  pupil,  his  environment  and  needs,  his  mind  processes,  his  tradi- 
tions and  superstitions,  his  ambitions,  his  means  of  support,  and  his  health.  The  teacher  should  know  the 
homes  and  the  neighborhoods  from  which  the  pupils  have  come,  and  he  should  endeavor  to  understand 
the  demands  which  the  community  will  make  upon  the  student  when  school  days  are  done.  With  such  a 
vital  appreciation  of  the  pupil  and  his  community,  the  teacher  will  not  be  content  to  deliver  lectures  of 
abstract  wisdom  based  on  ancient  civilization  or  even  on  modern  research.  He  will  insist  on  a  method 
of  instruction  that  compels  the  pupil  to  work  out  the  great  truths  in  terms  of  personal  experience.  Instead 
of  merely  talking  to  the  pupil,  he  will  talk  and  work  with  the  pupil.  There  will  be  an  interchange  between 
pupil  and  teacher  and  between  pupil  and  pupil.  The  classroom  will  be  a  community  instead  of  a  lecture 
hall.  With  his  pupils,  the  teacher  will  first  proceed  to  the  laboratory  to  work  out  ideas  under  favorable 
conditions  that  can  be  controlled;  he  will  then  guide  them  to  the  actual  conditions  of  real  life,  and  together 
they  will  "learn  to  do  by  doing." 

Teacher  Trainestg 

No  teachers  have  a  more  important  or  diflScult  work  than  the  Native  teachers  of 
Africa.  They  have  the  opportunity  to  be  not  only  the  teachers  of  youth;  they  can 
also  become  the  centers  of  community  life.  They  can  not  only  be  the  guides  and  coun- 


ClOTH-Wea\  IXU  ON  THE  CoNGO  RlVER 


Native  Fish  Traps  at  Stanley  Falls 


EDUCATION  OF  MASSES  AND  NATIVE  LEADERSHIP 


69 


selors  of  their  people;  they  can  also  become  their  best  representatives  in  all  dealings 
with  the  white  people.  In  the  upward  struggles  of  a  primitive  race  there  is  need  for 
teachers  with  a  broad  conception  of  educational  aims.  The  teaching  of  book  knowl- 
edge is  only  a  small  part  of  the  task.  There  must  be  the  development  of  habits  for 
industry,  thrift,  perseverance,  and  the  common  virtues  so  essential  to  successful  liv- 
ing. The  character  of  the  work  that  must  be  done  by  the  African  teacher  was  well 
described  by  Gen.  S.  C.  Armstrong  in  his  early  reports  on  Hampton  Institute.  Some 
of  his  striking  sayings  are  here  noted: 

Schools  are  not  for  brain  alone  but  for  the  whole  man.  The  teachers  should  be  not  mere  pedagogues 
but  citizens. 

The  personal  force  of  the  teacher  is  the  main  thing.  Outfit  and  apparatus,  about  which  so  much  fuss  is 
made,  are  secondary. 

To  me  the  end  of  education  for  the  classroom  is  more  and  more  clear.  It  should  be  straight  thinking. 
Instruction  in  books  is  not  all  of  it. 

General  deportment,  habits  of  living  and  of  labor,  right  ideas  of  life  and  duty,  are  taught  [at  Hampton] 
in  order  that  graduates  may  be  qualified  to  teach  others  these  important  lessons  of  life. 

The  three  elements  in  the  preparation  of  teachers  are,  first,  sound  habits  of  thought 
and  action  in  the  common  tasks  of  the  common  day  and  some  natural  aptitude  for 
teaching;  second,  knowledge  of  the  subjects  to  be  taught  and  skill  in  the  activities 
related  thereto;  and,  third,  appreciation  both  of  the  pupil's  mind  and  character  and 
also  of  the  community  from  which  the  pupil  has  come.  The  details  of  the  first  two 
elements  have  been  presented  in  the  chapters  dealing  with  the  various  phases  of  educa- 
tion. There  has  also  been  considerable  discussion  of  adaptation  to  the  needs  of  the 
pupil  and  the  community.  It  is  now  necessary  only  to  indicate  the  specific  elements 
of  teacher  training. 

These  elements  are  educational  psychology,  principles  and  methods  of  teaching, 
and  the  application  of  these  subjects  in  practice  teaching.  In  the  normal  courses 
observed  it  has  seemed  to  the  Commission  that  the  long  periods  of  time  devoted  to 
elementary  school  subjects  might  better  be  spent  in  the  study  of  secondary  subjects, 
supplemented  by  subjects  more  directly  related  to  the  work  of  teaching.  Dragging 
pupils  through  elementary  school  subjects  for  a  year  or  two  of  dull  repetition  modified 
only  by  artificial  methods  of  teaching  has  seemed  a  poor  use  of  the  pupils'  time.  It 
seems  far  better  to  divide  the  time  between  a  vigorous  and  intensive  study  of  the 
secondary  subjects  outlined  above  and  real  practice  teaching. 

"Learning  by  doing"  is  as  vital  in  the  training  of  teachers  as  in  the  preparation 
of  any  other  group  of  workers.  Practice  teaching  under  careful  supervision  is  an  essen- 
tial part  of  a  teacher's  education.  This  practice  should  be  done  under  conditions  that 
are  as  real  as  the  faciUties  will  permit.  Enough  time  should  be  devoted  to  the  prac- 
tice to  enable  the  pupil-teacher  to  have  some  appreciation  of  the  variety  of  teaching 
experiences.   In  a  four-year  course  the  minimum  should  be  one-half  of  the  last  year. 

Training  in  Trades  and  Handicrafts 

Training  in  trades  and  handicrafts  has  for  its  purpose  not  only  industrial  skill, 
but  also  the  development  of  mind  and  character.    It  is  increasingly  recognized 


70 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


that  education  is  not  limited  to  the  transfer  of  facts.  Every  part  of  the  body  is  to 
be  used  as  an  approach  to  the  mind.  The  mind  must  in  turn  express  itself  in  the  skill 
of  the  hand,  in  clearness  of  vision,  and  in  increased  alertness  of  every  sense.  All 
this  has  been  strikingly  expressed  by  Gen.  Armstrong,  himself  a  remarkable  apostle 
of  industrial  education,  in  words  as  applicable  to  Africa  as  they  are  to  the  Negro  in 
America,  or,  indeed  to  youth  anywhere: 

The  past  of  our  colored  population  has  been  such  that  an  institution  devoted  especially  to  them  must 
provide  a  training  more  than  usually  comprehensive,  must  include  both  sexes  and  a  variety  of  occupation, 
must  produce  moral  as  well  as  mental  strength,  and  while  making  its  students  first-rate  mechanical  laborers 
must  also  make  them  first-rate  men  and  women. 

Didactic  and  dogmatic  work  has  little  to  do  with  the  formation  of  character,  which  is  our  point.  This 
is  done  by  making  the  school  a  little  world  in  itself;  mingling  hard  days'  work  in  field  or  shop  with  social 
pleasures,  making  success  depend  on  behavior  rather  than  on  study  work.  School  life  should  be  like  real  life. 

The  education  needed  is  one  that  touches  upon  the  whole  range  of  life,  that  aims  at  the  formation 
of  good  habits  and  sound  principles,  that  considers  the  details  of  each  day;  that  enjoins,  in  respect  to  diet, 
regularity,  proper  selection,  and  good  cooking;  in  respect  to  habits,  suitable  clothing,  exercise,  cleanliness 
of  person  and  quarters,  and  ventilation;  also  industry  and  thrift;  and  in  respect  to  all  things,  intelligent 
practice  and  self-restraint. 

Subtract  hard  work  from  life,  and  in  a  few  months  it  will  have  all  gone  to  pieces.  Labor,  next  to  the 
grace  of  God  in  the  heart,  is  the  greatest  promoter  of  morality,  the  greatest  power  for  civilization. 

In  all  men,  education  is  conditioned  not  alone  on  an  enlightened  head  and  a  changed  heart,  but  very 
largely  on  a  routine  of  industrious  habits,  which  is  to  character  what  the  foundation  is  to  the  pyramid. 
The  summit  should  glow  with  a  divine  light,  interfusing  and  qualifying  the  whole  mass,  but  it  should  never 
be  forgotten  that  it  is  only  upon  a  foundation  of  regular  daily  activities  that  there  can  be  any  fine  and 
permanent  upbuilding.    Morality  and  industry  generally  go  together. 

The  plan  of  combining  mental  and  physical  labor  is,  a  priori,  full  of  objections.  The  co\irse  of  study  does 
not  run  smoothly;  there  is  action  and  reaction,  depression  and  delight,  but  the  reserve  forces  of  character 
no  longer  lie  dormant.  They  make  the  rough  places  smooth;  the  school  becomes  a  drill  ground  for  future 
work.    It  sends  men  and  women  rather  than  scholars  into  the  world. 

It  is  the  wisdom  of  these  words  and  the  remarkable  success  with  which  they  have 
been  realized  in  Hampton  and  Tuskegee  Institutes  as  well  as  in  some  of  the  most 
important  institutions  for  white  people  of  America  that  inspired  the  following  state- 
ment by  Prof.  Francis  Greenwood  Peabody  of  Harvard  University: 

Gen.  Armstrong,  in  a  degree  hardly  equaled  in  the  history  of  education,  had  the  gift  of  prophecy.  He 
foresaw  and  foretold  with  extraordinary  precision  the  tendencies  and  transitions  which  within  the  last  25 
years  have  practically  revolutionized  the  principles  of  education.  The  training  of  the  hand  and  eye  as 
well  as  of  the  mind — or  rather,  the  training  of  the  mind  through  observation  and  manual  labor — the  moral 
efifect  of  technical  skill,  the  conception  of  labor  as  a  moral  force,  the  test  of  education  in  efficiency,  the 
subordination  in  industrial  training  of  production  to  instruction,  the  advantages  to  both  sexes  of  coeduca- 
tion in  elementary  schools,  and  the  vanity  of  education  without  discipline  in  thrift,  self-help,  love  of  work, 
and  willingness  to  sacrifice,  all  these  familiar  maxims  of  modern  vocational  training  are  set  forth  with  the 
assurance  of  a  social  prophet  in  these  few  pages  of  occasional  utterances,  in  which  the  instinct  of  a  creative 
genius  anticipates  the  science  of  today. 

Training  in  handicrafts  is  at  present  offered  in  three  forms,  first,  mechanical  prac- 
tice and  household  arts  as  part  of  the  elementary  and  secondary  school  instruction; 
second,  trade  departments  or  schools  preparing  technical  teachers  and  tradesmen; 


EDUCATION  OF  MASSES  AND  NATIVE  LEADERSHIP 


71 


and  third,  industrial  schools  of  elementary  grade  preparing  mechanics  for  actual  service 
in  villages  or  in  the  less  skilled  activities  of  industrial  concerns. 

The  following  courses  are  offered  as  suggestions  for  the  guidance  of  those  who  must 
plan  the  industrial  instruction  of  youth: 

Manual  Training  in  Secondary  School.i — All  hoys  in  the  secondary  course  devote  two  or  more  hundred- 
minute  periods  a  week  throughout  the  four  years  to  some  form  of  handwork.  The  chief  purpose  of  this 
course  is  to  make  men  more  resourceful  in  meeting  certain  emergencies  that  are  <'onstanlly  arising  in  the 
home,  on  the  farm,  and  in  the  schoolroom.  To  this  end  the  elements  of  the  following  kinds  of  handwork 
are  taught:  Woodwork,  harness  repairing,  cabinet  work,  chair-caning,  cornshuck  mat  making,  book- 
binding, wood  turning,  mechanical  drawing,  tinsmithing,  shoe  repairing,  upholstering,  and  general  repair 
work.    From  this  list  of  subjects  the  individual  programs  are  arranged. 

For  the  young  women  there  should  be  instruction  in  cooking  and  sewing  with  ample  practice  in  tlie 
boarding  department  and  in  the  care  of  the  dormitories.  The  course  should  be  based  on  the  neighborhood 
needs.  Wherever  possible,  arrangement  should  be  made  for  practice  in  the  homes  of  the  community. 
Special  attention  should  be  given  to  the  kinds  of  food  and  the  methods  of  cooking  in  the  pupils'  homes. 
Canning  and  preserving  vegetables  and  fruits  and  the  effective  care  of  the  kitchen  garden  are  essential 
parts  of  the  instruction.  Throughout  the  course  there  should  be  a  recognition  of  the  principles  of  hygiene 
and  sanitation.  All  the  girls  should  be  given  a  simple  course  in  home  sanitation,  including  talks  (two  hours 
a  week)  on  the  care  of  the  sick  room  and  the  small  attentions  necessary  to  the  comfort  of  an  invalid;  the 
laws  of  health  and  the  influence  of  heredity;  the  preparation  and  use  of  domestic  remedies  and  disinfectants, 
and  the  sanitary  care  of  the  home;  the  prevention  of  tuberculosis;  personal  habits  as  affecting  health  and 
character;  lessons  in  first  aid  in  injury  and  illness.  i 

Secondary  Trade  Schools — There  are  six  considerations  in  the  organization  of  a  genuine  trade  school: 

1.  Teachers  who  combine  real  mechanical  skill  and  practical  knowledge  of  the  trades  with  ability 
to  teach.   A  broad  education  contributes  much  to  the  influence  of  the  teacher. 

2.  A  time  program  that  provides  practice  as  nearly  as  possible  like  that  of  the  occupation  to  be  learned. 
The  time  programs  of  American  trade  schools  at  present  include  schools  requiring  only  one  practice  day 
each  week,  those  with  five  half-days  of  practice  each  week,  those  with  alternate  days  in  school  and  shop, 
and  at  least  one  institution  requiring  six  8-hour  days  each  week  in  the  shop. 

3.  Facilities  for  teaching  the  trades  under  conditions  that  are  as  nearly  as  possible  like  those  of  the 
actual  trade.  Preference  should  be  given  to  the  facilities  for  the  trades  in  which  there  is  greatest  demand 
for  workmen. 

4.  The  years  required  to  complete  the  course  are  to  be  determined  by  the  conditions  in  each  colony. 
At  present  the  time  varies  from  three  to  five  years. 

5.  The  trades  to  be  taught  should  be  selected  according  to  the  needs  of  industrial  development  in 
the  colony.  Consideration  should  be  given  not  only  to  the  large  industrial  concerns,  but  to  the  eommon 
needs  of  local  African  communities. 

6.  The  supplementary  subjects  should  include  as  much  as  possible  of  the  secondary  curriculum. 
The  minimum  of  such  instruction  should  include  mechanical  drawing,  business  training,  applied  mathe- 
matics, elementary  physics,  and  chemistry. 

Elementary  Trade  Schools — There  is  an  increasing  demand  for  schools  to  teach  the  simpler  elements 
of  trades  required  in  Native  villages  and  to  prepare  for  the  less  skilled  occupations  in  industrial  concerns. 
These  schools  usually  combine  the  elements  of  agriculture  as  well  as  practice  in  mechanical  operations. 
Classroom  instruction  is  elementary  in  character  and  subordinated  to  the  vocational  training.  Most  of 
the  day  is  devoted  to  the  work  in  field  and  shop.  Classroom  subjects  are  taught  early  in  the  morning  or 
late  afternoon  or  evening. 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Agricultural  Education 

Agricultural  education  is  in  many  respects  more  vital  to  Africa  than  any  other 
kind  and  neglect  of  it  is  one  of  the  most  unfortunate  failures  of  government  and  mis- 
sion education.  Some  training  has  been  given  as  an  incident  to  the  life  of  the  mission 
stations  and  the  work  of  the  colonial  government,  but  very  little  has  been  done  as  a 
regular  part  of  the  school  activities.  The  forms  in  which  agricultural  education  may  be 
given  are,  first,  the  supplementary  training  of  elementary  and  secondary  pupils; 
second,  departments  or  schools  of  agriculture  to  prepare  teachers  and  specialists  in 
agriculture;  and  third,  short  courses  to  train  farmers  to  cultivate  more  effectively  their 
plots  of  ground  or  to  work  on  the  large  plantations.  The  important  phases  of  these 
three  forms  of  training  are  suggested  in  the  following  paragraphs: 

Agricultural  Instruction  in  Secondary  Schools — It  is  evident  tliat  every  secondary  school  and  every 
private  and  higher  institution  should  make  it  possible  for  pupils  to  appreciate  the  economic  and  social 
significance  of  gardening  and  soil  cultivation,  to  know  the  relation  of  soil  to  soul,  to  know  that  farming 
is  not  mere  drudgery,  but  the  source  of  culture  as  well  as  prosperity.  Such  is  the  importance  of  rural  life 
that  the  teachers  of  other  subjects  should  use  every  opportunity  which  their  subjects  offer  to  arouse  interest 
in  the  improvement  of  rural  conditions.  This  applies  especially  to  the  teachers  of  economics  and  educa- 
tion. For  students  who  are  preparing  to  be  teachers  or  ministers  this  course  should  be  required  just  as 
far  as  time  will  permit.  For  such  students  knowledge  of  soil  processes  means  not  merely  a  needed  supple- 
ment to  their  meager  salaries,  but,  what  is  much  more  significant,  a  point  of  contact  with  the  people. 
It  is  probable  that  the  future  of  rural  districts  will  be  largely  determined  by  the  teacher  and  the  preacher 
with  a  genuine  and  intelligent  interest  in  the  soil  and  its  possibilities.  Even  the  prospective  medical  student 
would  do  well  to  obtain  this  broad  view  of  agriculture  before  he  enters  on  his  medical  course. 

The  agricultural  course  should  be  required  of  every  pupil  and  should  cover  five  periods  a  week  for  one 
year  and  a  half.  Experience  shows  that  the  greatest  emphasis  should  be  centered  in  the  actual  carrying  out 
of  the  projects.  The  classroom  instruction  should  be  reduced  to  the  minimum  and  should  only  be  used 
to  supplement  the  projects  and  answer  the  questions  that  arise  through  actual  doing  of  the  work.  It  is 
especially  desirable  that  pupils  living  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  school  should  work  out  the  projects  in 
their  homes.  Another  important  requirement  of  success  in  this  course  is  the  employment  of  a  teacher  who 
should  devote  the  entire  year  to  the  work. 

The  course  should  include  all  the  agricultural  activities  possible  on  a  homestead — vegetable  gardening, 
fruit  growing,  flower  culture  both  for  ornamental  and  selling  purposes,  care  of  chickens,  a  dairy  cow,  and 
swine. 

Through  vegetable  gardening,  the  students  should  learn  how  to  plan  and  manage  a  twelve  months' 
garden  for  the  intensive  production  of  vegetables.  They  should  be  familiar  with  companion  and  succession 
crops  and  the  best  methods  of  rotation.  They  should  learn  the  varieties  adapted  to  season,  how  to  manage 
the  soil,  how  to  plant,  cultivate,  control  pests,  and  harvest  both  annual  and  perennial  vegetables  so  as 
to  get  the  best  results. 

In  the  growing  of  fruit,  the  student  should  learn  the  soil  requirements,  methods  of  propagation,  culti- 
vation, spraying,  harvesting,  marketing  of  fruits. 

Through  flower  growing,  the  students  should  learn  how  to  make  and  root  cuttings  such  as  geraniums, 
roses,  and  shrubs.  They  should  become  familiar  with  annual,  biennial,  and  perennial  flowers  suitable  for 
home  decoration.  They  should  learn  how  to  make  and  manage  flower  borders,  how  to  plan  and  plant 
the  front  yard. 

Through  the  care  of  chickens  the  students  should  learn  the  principles  involved  in  breeding,  incubation, 
brooding;  feeding  for  rearing,  egg  production  and  fattening;  housing  and  sanitation;  diseases  and  parasites; 
and  the  marketing  of  products.  WTierever  possible  the  students  should  learn  how  to  breed,  feed,  house, 
and  care  for  a  dairy  cow  in  order  to  produce  sanitary  milk  and  butter  economically.   In  addition,  they 


EDUCATION  OF  MASSES  AND  NATIVE  LEADERSHIP 


73 


should  learn  how  to  breed,  feed,  house,  and  manage  swine  for  the  economic  production  of  pork;  how  to 
cure  and  market  the  products. 

Course  to  Prepare  Agricultural  Teachers 

All  investigations  indicate  that  there  is  but  one  agricultural  school  in  Africa. 
None  of  the  institutions  maintains  even  a  department  devoted  exclusively  to  the 
teaching  of  agriculture.  The  Tsolo  Agricultural  School  is  organized  on  sound  prin- 
ciples but  it  is  not  yet  sufficiently  advanced. 

The  first  essential  of  an  agricultural  school  is  a  farm,  operated  in  such  a  way  as 
to  combine  the  profitable  cultivation  of  the  land  with  the  educational  use  of  student 
labor.  The  elements  required  to  realize  this  important  purpose  have  been  outlined 
as  follows: 

1.  A  man  with  sound  ideals  of  education  and  business  ability  who  likes  to  work  with  his  hands  and 
believes  that  well-directed  farm  labor  has  educational  value. 

2.  A  farm,  conveniently  located  and  moderate  in  size,  so  that  students  may  pass  from  work  lessons 
on  the  farm  to  classroom  lessons  without  undue  loss  of  time. 

3.  Practical  equipment  similar  to  that  required  at  the  student's  farm  home. 

4.  A  firm  conviction  in  the  minds  of  teachers  and  students  that  doing  is  more  important  than  talking, 
so  that  all  will  regard  farm  work  as  a  more  significant  test  of  educational  advancement  than  written  papers 
or  recitations. 

5.  Payment  of  students  for  farm  work  on  the  basis  of  value  of  products  rather  than  time  spent.  Work 
done  for  permanent  improvement,  or  for  the  sake  of  the  appearance  of  the  farm,  should  not  be  charged 
against  the  crops.  Students  who  are  working  to  supplement  their  expenses  should  be  tested  on  appear- 
ance work,  such  as  cleaning  up  and  filling  gullies. 

6.  So  far  as  possible,  only  agricultural  students  should  be  employed  on  the  farm,  and  the  work  should 
be  so  planned  and  supervised  that  its  educational  advantages  are  realized. 

7.  So  far  as  possible,  only  those  crops  should  be  produced  for  which  there  is  a  sure  market  at  the 
dining  hall,  in  nearby  markets,  or  in  the  general  market  for  staple  cash  crops. 

8.  The  buildings,  like  stock  and  equipment,  should  be  maintained  on  an  efficient  basis. 

It  is  not  possible  to  outline  a  course  of  agricultural  instruction  for  all  the  African 
colonies.  Such  a  course  should  be  formulated  by  the  colonial  specialist  in  agriculture 
in  cooperation  with  the  educational  authorities.  A  few  general  observations  may  be 
of  value  in  the  formulation  of  these  courses.  In  addition  to  the  elements  already 
indicated  it  is  urged  that  the  four-year  course  should  not  only  offer  the  science  and 
practice  of  agriculture,  but  also  general  science,  rural  economics  and  sociology,  teacher- 
training,  and  applied  mathematics.  The  proportions  of  time  recommended  are: 
50  per  cent  for  study  and  work  connected  with  the  growing  of  crops  and  the  breed- 
ing and  care  of  animals;  30  per  cent  on  studies  related  to  farming,  such  as  veteri- 
nary science,  entomology,  physics,  biology,  farm  accounting,  and  shop  work;  and 
20  per  cent  on  rural  sociology,  including  history,  sanitation,  and  teacher-training. 

The  increasing  importance  of  what  is  called  "Project  study  and  work"  in  agri- 
cultural education  makes  it  desirable  to  quote  the  following  description  of  this  edu- 
cational method: 

The  course  of  study  is  made  each  year  to  center  on  and  support  one  particular  branch  of  farming, 
so  that  the  work  of  that  year  may  be  in  some  degree  complete  in  itself,  although  at  the  same  time  it  is 


74 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


preparation  for  the  study  of  succeeding  years.  By  this  arrangement  an  excellent  four-years'  course  is 
provided,  and  yet  it  is  possible  for  a  pupil  to  enter  for  one,  two,  or  three  years  and  get  full  value  for  his 
time  and  effort.  Furthermore,  each  pupil  is  rcquireil  to  undertake  during  the  year  a  "project"  in  the 
productive  agriculture  about  which  his  studies  for  the  year  center;  for  example,  the  second  year,  while 
studying  small  animals,  it  may  be  the  management  and  caring  for  a  few  hives  of  bees,  or  of  a  flock  of  poultry, 
or  hog  raising;  hence  the  terms  "project  study"  and  "project  work."  In  this  project  he  makes  his  plans, 
carries  out  his  work,  does  iiis  own  financing  and  marketing,  and  keeps  careful  records  of  the  business, 
all  of  which  is  usually  done  at  his  own  home,  but  under  the  direction  of  an  instructor. 

Short  Course  for  Native  Farmers — The  distinctive  purpose  of  the  smaller  agricultural  school  is  to  pre- 
pare pupils  to  become  effective  small  farmers  and  to  assist  the  local  farmers  to  improve  their  methods. 
The  important  need  of  the  short-course  pupils  is  practice  in  the  various  lines  of  gardening  and  farming. 
This  practice  should  be  sufficient  to  enable  the  pupil  to  develop  some  skill  in  the  essential  phases  of  small 
farming,-  including  the  soil,  fertilizers,  farm  crops,  animal  husbandry,  farm  machinery,  and  marketing. 
One  of  the  most  important  phases  of  the  training  is  a  real  knowledge  of  simple  business  principles  and 
methods.  This,  too,  requires  practice  as  a  guarantee  that  the  pupil  appreciates  the  significance  of  the 
facts  acquired. 

Tkaining  of  Medical  Assistants 

There  is  increasing  recognition  of  the  importance  of  training  African  youth 
to  assist  in  the  overwhehning  task  of  improving  health  and  sanitary  conditions. 
The  colonial  chapters  reveal  the  utter  inadequacy  of  present  facilities  for  medical 
education.  There  is  not  a  single  medical  school  for  Natives  in  any  of  the  parts  of 
Africa  visited  by  the  African  Education  Commission.  The  efforts  to  organize  medical 
schools  in  South  Africa  have  been  described  elsewhere.  The  plan  of  the  Belgian  Gov- 
ernment to  educate  medical  assistants  is  outlined  in  the  chapter  on  the  Belgian  Congo. 
The  recommendations  of  the  Education  Commission  for  the  teaching  of  hygiene  and 
for  medical  education  are  summarized  in  the  chapter  on  the  adaptations  of  educa- 
tion. The  essential  element  in  providing  for  medical  education  is  that  governments 
and  mission  authorities  shall  definitely  decide  to  supply  training  in  hygiene  in  all  higher 
grades  of  schools,  and  arrange  for  the  employment  of  those  who  have  received  special 
training  to  teach  hygiene,  or  to  serve  as  medical  assistants  or  sanitary  inspectors. 

Training  of  Religious  Workers 

Training  for  the  religious  leadership  of  the  African  people  is  the  most  vital  of  all 
educational  responsibilities.  In  the  chapter  on  educational  adaptations  it  was 
urged  that  the  development  of  character  and  religious  life  should  be  an  essential  phase 
of  every  educational  activity.  Education  for  the  various  forms  of  leadership 
must  therefore  provide  for  the  development  of  character  and  religious  life.  Every 
form  of  leadership  is  in  some  respects  a  religious  leadership.  Teachers,  industrial 
and  agricultural  speciahsts,  and  medical  workers  should  all  participate  in  the  training 
of  the  character  and  religious  life  of  the  Native  people.  Missions  have  shown  their 
broad  comprehension  of  religion  in  the  large  support  which  they  have  given  to  every 
phase  of  human  development.  The  majority  of  Missionaries  in  Africa  have  shown 
by  their  teachings  and  much  more  by  their  lives  that  religion  includes  all  that 
contributes  to  the  welfare  of  mankind.  Most  of  the  governments  have  been  sym- 
pathetic to  this  broad  interpretation  of  reUgion  and  have  shown  their  appreciation 


EDUCATION  OF  MASSES  AND  NATIVE  LEADERSIIIP 


75 


of  mission  efforts.  Only  one  or  two  of  the  governments  have  seemed  to  hick  this 
appreciation,  though  all  might  well  give  even  more  definite  evidence  of  gratitude  for 
the  services  rendered.  Some  of  the  industrial  and  commercial  concerns  seem  to 
understand  the  value  of  missionary  effort  in  the  dcvcloi)mcnt  of  the  colonies.  It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  this  appreciation  has  been  all  too  meager. 

In  addition  to  the  types  of  leadership  indirectly  but  vitally  concerned  with  the 
character  and  religious  life  of  the  people,  there  must  also  be  leadership  that  is  directly 
concerned  with  the  churches  and  the  other  agencies  that  explain  the  religious  elements 
of  life,  and  lead  the  people  in  the  service  of  humanity  because  they  are  inspired  by 
the  love  of  God.  The  preachers  of  religion  may  also  be  teachers  and  farmers,  but  their 
training  should  prepare  them  to  give  the  main  emphasis  of  their  lives  to  directing  the 
people  to  a  faith  in  the  Divine  order  of  the  Universe.  It  is  peculiarly  important  to 
assist  the  African  people  to  change  their  fear  of  the  unseen  as  it  is  interpreted  by  the 
fetish  doctor  and  voodoo  priest  to  a  belief  in  the  fatherhood  of  God.  The  ability  to 
show  the  relation  of  the  Christian  religion  to  Christian  civilization  requires  as  broad 
a  knowledge  of  literature  and  of  history  as  the  best  forms  of  education  can  supply. 
The  influence  of  the  Christian  religion  on  the  life  of  the  individual  and  the  community 
may  be  understood  by  those  of  limited  training,  but  appreciation  of  the  extent  and 
variety  of  that  influence  will  continue  to  grow  as  long  as  the  human  mind  increases 
in  its  power  of  comprehension. 

The  training  of  the  religious  worker  should  so  far  as  possible  presuppose  the  essen- 
tials of  a  secondary  education.  The  special  features  of  the  training  will  be  determined 
by  the  forms  of  the  church  to  which  he  belongs.  It  will  be  generally  agreed  that  the 
elements  requiring  emphasis  in  the  training  of  the  African  minister  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  Native  minister  must  have  an  appreciation  of  the  Bible,  of  the  Christian 
Church,  and  of  Christian  civilization.  This  means,  of  course,  that  there  must  be  care- 
ful study  of  the  Bible,  some  knowledge  of  church  history,  and  some  acquaintance  with 
the  social  and  religious  history  of  European  and  American  nations. 

2.  Customs  and  traditions  of  the  Native  people  must  be  studied  and  interpreted 
in  the  light  of  comparative  religion  and  social  science.  The  helpful  elements  must  be 
distinguished  from  those  that  have  been  harmful  and  destructive. 

3.  The  application  of  religion  to  the  life  of  the  individual  and  the  community 
must  be  studied,  and  illustrations  from  actual  life  should  be  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  student.  The  educational  adaptations  urged  in  another  chapter  for  the  training 
of  the  individual  and  for  the  improvement  of  the  rural  and  urban  community  should 
all  have  a  part  in  the  preparation  of  the  Native  minister. 

College  Education 

Though  college  education  for  African  youth  is  limited  to  two  institutions  in  Africa 
and  to  the  opportunities  for  study  in  Europe  and  America,  it  is  certain  that  the  develop- 
ment of  Native  leadership  will  require  more  college  facilities  as  the  standards  of  edu- 
cation advance.   If  college  education  is  of  value  to  any  group,  surely  it  is  to  those  who 


76 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


are  to  be  the  Native  guides  of  African  people  whose  existence  Is  beset  with  so  many 
perplexing  problems.  Only  a  broad-minded  leadership  with  a  thorough  grasp  of 
human  development  can  understand  the  peculiar  difficulties  attending  the  rise  of  a 
primitive  people.  The  misunderstandings  that  seem  to  result  necessarily  from  the 
entrance  of  European  ideas  of  government  and  life  can  be  explained  only  by  Native 
leaders  capable  of  sympathetic  appreciation  of  both  African  and  European  life. 
All  the  wisdom  of  history  is  needed  to  enable  African  teachers  and  religious  leaders  to 
realize  that  many  of  the  present  difficulties  have  been  experienced  in  other  parts  of  the 
world,  that  the  obstacles  confronting  Africa  are  not  insurmountable,  that  other  peo- 
ples have  struggled  through  similar  trials,  and  have  won  a  place  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  More  and  more  leadership  of  the  Africans  is  devolving  upon  the  strong 
and  capable  Native  men  and  women.  Successful  leadership  requires  the  best  lessons 
of  sociology,  economics,  and  education.  Without  such  leadership,  misunderstandings 
will  multiply  and  increase  in  perplexity.  The  Africans  must  have  physicians  with  real 
skill  and  the  spirit  of  service  to  lead  against  the  insanitary  conditions  that  are  threat- 
ening the  colonies.  They  must  have  religious  teachers  who  can  relate  religion  to  indi- 
vidual morals  and  to  the  common  activities  of  the  community.  They  must  have 
teachers  of  secondary  schools  who  have  had  college  training  in  the  modern  sciences 
and  in  the  historical  development  of  civilization. 

Unfortunately  the  college  curriculum  has  only  recently  begun  to  change  the  tradi- 
tional character  of  the  subjects  taught.  The  large  place  given  to  the  classical  lan- 
guages has  limited  or  excluded  the  necessary  time  for  social  and  physical  science, 
sometimes  even  for  history.  Africans  have  too  readily  believed  that  the  culture  and 
character  of  Oxford  University  graduates  can  be  realized  most  successfully  through 
the  study  of  the  classical  languages.  Many  European  and  American  supporters  of 
classical  learning  now  concede  that  the  effective  study  of  social  and  physical  science 
results  in  equal  culture  and  character  with  the  additional  important  result  of 
capacity  to  serve  society  along  some  of  the  definite  lines  of  its  modern  requirements. 
All  will  readily  grant  that  the  classics  have  made  a  vital  contribution  to  the  develop- 
ment of  humanity,  but  this  recognition  of  the  classics  is  in  no  respect  antagonistic 
to  the  conviction  that  culture,  character,  and  useful  human  service  can  be  attained 
by  a  recognition  of  the  results  of  modern  scientific  research.  It  seems  necessary  to 
state  these  convictions  because  the  influence  of  the  classical  requirements  of  some 
European  universities  is  distorting  many  phases  of  education  in  African  schools. 

There  are  now  significant  changes  under  consideration  in  European  colleges  and 
universities.  The  curricula  are  being  broadened  to  provide  for  new  subjects  imme- 
diately concerned  with  the  problems  of  the  twentieth  century.  Even  conservative 
institutions  of  learning  have  added  departments  or  colleges  of  agriculture,  forestry, 
and  engineering.  There  is  a  realization  that  college  activities  are  subject  to  the  test 
of  service  to  the  community  in  exactly  the  same  degree  as  any  other  activity  that 
seeks  social  support.  Matriculation  requu-ements  now  often  include  such  secondary 
subjects  as  agriculture,  science,  commercial  subjects,  practical  mathematics,  physi- 
ology and  hygiene,  and  music.    The  courses  leading  to  the  B.  A.  degree  have  every- 


EDUCATION  OF  MASSES  AND  NATIVE  LEADERSHIP 


77 


where  been  broadened,  and  new  degrees,  such  as  Bachelor  of  Science,  have  been  intro- 
duced which  require  no  Greek  and  little  or  no  Latin.  European  universities  can 
render  a  most  vital  service  to  Africa  by  extending  to  such  African  students  as  seem 
qualified  the  benefits  of  this  broader  conception. 

Significant  Features  of  Certain  African  Schools 

Many  schools  observed  in  Africa  have  features  that  might  well  be  adopted  by 
other  institutions  with  similar  responsibilities.  Prof.  D.  J.  Fleming  of  the  Village 
Education  Commission  has  presented  such  features  for  Indian  schools  in  his  interest- 
ing volume  entitled  "Schools  With  a  Message."  The  colonial  chapters  of  this  Report 
describe  numerous  schools  that  have  a  distinct  message  to  other  institutions  in  Africa 
or  other  parts  of  the  world.  In  presenting  the  agencies  for  the  training  of  Native  lead- 
ership it  seems  desirable  to  add  to  the  more  formal  presentation  of  secondary  and  col- 
legiate organization  some  of  the  significant  features  of  schools  that  have  made  valu- 
able contributions  to  various  grades  of  Native  leadership.  In  the  remaining  sections 
of  this  chapter  features  selected  from  the  descriptions  of  schools  in  the  colonial  chapters 
are  presented.  It  is  not  possible  to  include  all  of  the  "Schools  with  a  Message"  ob- 
served by  the  Education  Commission.  Those  interested  in  special  phases  of  school 
work  will  need  to  search  through  the  colonial  chapters  for  the  schools  that  have  made 
unique  contributions. 

The  School  as  a  Community 

Probably  the  most  striking  feature  of  the  mission  stations  in  Africa  is  the  fact 
that  each  station  is  an  educational  and  religious  community.  Teachers,  pupils,  and 
plant  have  been  assembled  for  educational  and  religious  purposes.  It  is  difficult  to  exag- 
gerate the  value  of  this  feature.  The  community  life  is  in  itself  an  educational  achieve- 
ment that  should  be  fully  appreciated  by  the  workers  themselves  and  by  all  who  are 
concerned  in  the  welfare  of  the  Native  people  and  the  colony.  Such  an  achievement 
overshadows  the  crude  equipment  and  the  disregard  of  pedagogical  principles  so  often 
noted.  The  realization  of  this  achievement  should  quicken  the  workers  to  strengthen 
the  community  efforts  of  their  station. 

School  Personnel 

There  are  striking  illustrations  of  institutions  that  express  the  personality  of  the 
founders  and  principal.  Among  these  are  the  St.  Hilda  School  in  Natal,  South  Africa, 
the  Church  Missionary  Society  Training  School  for  Girls  near  Onitsha,  Nigeria,  the 
Slessor  Memorial  at  Aro  Chuku,  Nigeria,  and  the  Edgerley  Memorial  at  Calabar. 
It  is  rather  striking  that  all  of  these  schools  have  been  founded  by  women.  Larger 
institutions  like  Lovedale,  Amanzimtote,  and  Inanda,  have  developed  beyond  the 
personalities  of  the  founders,  but  they  still  show  many  signs  of  the  interests  and  con- 
victions of  those  who  created  them.  There  are  also  reflections  of  the  character  of 
religious  orders  like  the  Kisantu  School,  founded  by  the  Jesuits  in  Belgian  Congo, 


78 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


or  the  English  types  of  the  British  Baptist  Society  on  the  Congo.  It  has  been  interest- 
ing to  note  the  American  types  as  they  have  been  seen  in  the  various  colonics  visited. 
The  rural  experience  of  some  of  the  American  workers  is  reflected  in  the  practical 
applications  of  education  to  the  village  life  of  the  Natives.  Possibly  the  most 
significant  of  all  types  of  personality  is  that  which  reflects  the  family  life  of  Europeans 
or  Americans  who  have  left  their  homes  and  gone  as  a  family,  father,  mother,  and 
children,  to  carry  the  messages  of  civilization  to  primitive  people.  Many  such  in- 
stances were  observed.  Probably  the  most  dramatic  of  all  is  the  group  at  Bolenge 
Mission  Station  just  where  the  Congo  River  crosses  the  Equator.  The  con- 
clusions based  upon  these  observations  are  first,  that  mission  societies  should  endeavor 
to  select  the  best  type  of  individuals  and  families  for  Africa;  second,  that  these  indi- 
viduals should  have  every  opportunity  for  preparation  in  as  many  of  the  essential 
phases  of  life  as  possible,  and  of  course  in  the  special  needs  of  the  field  to  which  they 
are  going;  and,  third,  that  groups  of  missionaries  who  have  proved  worthy  of  confi- 
dence should  have  considerable  freedom  in  giving  their  stations  a  note  of  individu- 
ality. In  estimating  the  value  of  mission  agencies  it  is  clear  that  the  type  of  person- 
ality must  be  regarded  as  of  the  utmost  importance.  Personality  may  create  the  work 
and  personality  may  destroy  it. 

School  Activities 

Curriculum  and  activities  have  already  been  described  formally.  Realization 
of  different  parts  of  these  curricula  has  been  seen  in  the  splendid  hospital  services  at 
Bolobo  on  the  Congo,  Lovedale  and  Durban  Hospitals  in  South  Africa,  and  lyi  Enu 
Hospital  near  Onitsha,  Nigeria;  in  the  skillful  ministration  of  mission  physicians; 
and  in  numerous  clinics.  At  all  stations  there  are  religious  meetings  and  other 
religious  activities  of  varying  value.  Among  those  observed  by  the  Commission  were 
the  interesting  and  impressive  Sabbath  assemblies  at  Bolobo  on  the  Congo;  the 
extensive  travels  of  mission  workers  through  swamps,  jungles,  over  plains  and  hills 
and  along  the  rivers,  to  visit  the  little  outposts  of  Christianity.  There  come  to  mind 
also  the  dignity,  reverence,  and  devotion  of  Anglican  and  Roman  Catholic  orders  as 
they  assemble  for  religious  devotion  or  the  common  activities  of  the  day.  Of  the  more 
definitely  instructional  type  there  may  be  mentioned  the  kindergarten  of  little  naked 
children  at  Yakusu  on  the  Congo;  the  family  and  self-support  features  of  Kimpese  on 
the  Lower  Congo;  the  separate  compound  for  the  education  of  the  betrothed  girls 
sent  by  the  young  Native  men  to  the  training  school  near  Onitsha;  the  home  school  at 
Aro  Chuku,  and  the  educational  administration  of  dormitories  at  Edgerley  Memorial. 

Mission  Plants 

Of  the  mission  plants  observed  some  are  small,  compact,  and  built  of  Native  ma- 
terial. Of  this  tyjje  ])ossibly  the  most  interesting  of  all  were  the  clay  sleeping  rooms 
of  the  girls'  school  near  Onitsha.  Polished  within  and  without,  the  rich  brown  color 
resembled  that  of  the  cedar  wood  so  artistic  in  its  finished  form.  The  enclosed  quad- 
rangle of  the  Basel  Mission  is  another  type  with  its  classrooms,  school  activities,  and 


EDUCATION  OF  MASSES  AND  NATIVE  LEADERSHIP 


79 


dormitories  on  the  level  of  the  ground,  and  missionary  rooms  on  the  upper  floors, 
with  wide,  airy  portico  and  ample  openings  for  air  and  space  for  exercise.  The  most 
pleasing  of  all  plants  observed  was  that  of  the  Bai)tist  Mission  on  Lake  Tumba 
in  Belgian  Congo.  The  well-arranged  streets,  decorated  by  the  fruit  trees  whose  names 
they  bear,  the  comfortable  tropical  bungalows  for  missionaries,  the  attractive  church 
and  school,  the  dormitories,  buildings,  and  gardens,  all  arranged  in  accordance  with 
the  principles  of  sanitation  and  good  taste,  have  been  described  elsewhere.*  Most 
of  the  missions  cultivate  gardens.  The  resourceful  founder  of  the  girls'  school  near 
Onitsha,  already  mentioned  so  often,  maintained  an  animal  yard  where  the  smaller 
domestic  animals,  frequently  overlooked  by  educational  institutions,  are  looked 
after  as  part  of  the  school  exercise  by  the  girls  of  the  institution.  Here  the  smaller 
children  brought  food  for  the  rabbits  and  the  poultry,  and  the  larger  girls  fed  the  sheep 
and  goats.  The  Kapango  Station  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren,  described  in  the  chapter 
on  Angola,  illustrates  the  method  of  arranging  buildings  and  grounds  to  provide  school 
facilities,  missionary  residences,  and  homes  for  the  Natives  living  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  school.  One  of  the  most  interesting  buildings  observed  among  the  mission  sta- 
tions is  the  chapel  at  St.  Hilda's  School  described  in  the  chapter  on  South  Africa. 
A  striking  difference  between  European  and  American  missions  is  in  the  matter  of 
screening.  American  missions,  with  few  exceptions,  have  screened  their  residences. 
European  missions,  with  few  exceptions,  do  not  screen  them.  The  effect  of  screening 
has  been  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  Presbyterian  Missions  of  the  Cameroons,  where 
sickness  and  death  from  malaria  have  been  practically  eliminated. 
*See  Chapter  IX. 


Chapter  V 

COOPERATION  FOR  THE  EDUCATION  OF  AFRICANS 

The  education  and  civilization  of  the  Africans  require  the  cooperation  of  govern- 
ments, missions,  commercial  and  industrial  concerns,  and  the  Native  people.  Present 
forms  of  cooperation  are  largely  incidental  to  the  necessities  of  the  four  groups  work- 
ing and  living  in  the  colony.  There  is  some  evidence  of  misunderstandings  and  even 
antagonisms.  Fortunately  most  of  the  misunderstandings  are  due  to  a  lack  of 
acquaintance  with  each  other  on  the  part  of  the  several  groups.  The  real  antagonisms, 
so  far  as  they  exist,  are  partly  explained  by  the  difference  in  the  ends  for  which  each 
group  is  working.  The  antipathies  are  intensified  somewhat  by  the  differences  in 
the  modes  of  recreation,  social  customs,  and  the  general  conception  of  life  maintained 
by  missionaries  on  the  one  hand  and  merchants  and  government  officials  on  the  other. 
All  these  differences  are  naturally  intensified  in  the  attitude  towards  the  Native 
peoples. 

The  government  officials,  representing  many  social  grades  and  conceptions  of 
government  varying  from  monarchy  to  democracy,  have  come  to  work  with  the 
authority  of  the  ruling  power.  The  interest  of  the  merchants  and  industrial  groups 
is  primarily  economic.  The  missionaries  come  to  bring  the  great  truths  of  civilization 
and  Christianity  to  the  Natives.  The  Native  people  have  a  variety  of  interests  and 
emotions  with  regard  to  all  groups  that  range  from  expectancy  to  wonder  and  some- 
times apprehension.  It  is  not  strange  that  such  groups  have  not  sufficiently  realized 
the  possibilities  of  cooperation. 

However  widely  they  may  differ  in  their  manner  of  life  and  in  the  ends  for  which 
they  are  working,  the  ultimate  success  of  all  the  groups  depends  upon  mutual  respect, 
faith  in  one  another,  and  cooperation  for  the  development  of  the  colony  and  the 
Native  people.  Governments  cannot  realize  their  responsibilities  for  the  prosperity, 
the  health,  the  education,  and  the  morale  of  the  colony  without  the  assistance  of 
missionaries,  merchants,  and  the  African  people.  Missionaries  will  be  seriously 
hampered  in  their  educational  and  religious  activities  without  the  friendship  and  aid 
of  government  and  merchants  and  the  participation  of  the  Africans.  The  economic 
possibilities  of  the  mercantile  and  industrial  concerns  will  be  hopelessly  limited  with- 
out the  educational  work  of  missions,  the  peace  and  order  established  by  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  confidence  of  the  people.  The  Native  people  depend  upon  European 
and  American  groups  for  the  machinery  and  achievements  of  civilization.  However 
much  they  may  yearn  for  self-determination,  the  Africans  must  share  the  history 
of  every  other  people  in  depending  upon  the  experience  of  other  countries  and  other 
epochs  in  order  to  participate  in  the  progress  of  civilization.  It  is  as  true  of  racial 
groups  as  of  individuals  that  they  must  have  an  opportunity  to  share  in  the  achieve- 
ments of  other  groups  as  well  as  to  develop  their  individuality.  The  great  principle 
of  Christian  brotherhood  is  as  essential  to  humanity  as  self-determination. 


COOPERATION  FOR  EDUCATION 


81 


Statistically,  European  groups  are  negligible,  but  their  influence  and  authority- 
are  determining  factors  in  the  life  of  the  colonics.  Nigeria,  with  almost  18,000,000 
Native  people,  has  about  2,800  Europeans,  of  whom  1,200  are  government  officials, 
1,250  in  commercial  concerns  and  mining,  and  350  missionaries.  The  Gold  Coast 
has  2,000,000  Native  people,  3,182  Europeans,  of  whom  2,462  are  in  mercantile 
operations  and  mining,  653  in  government  service,  and  66  missionaries;  Sierra  Leone 
has  a  million  and  a  half  Native  people  and  less  than  a  thousand  Europeans,  of  whom 
about  80  are  missionaries;  and  Belgian  Congo  has  over  10,000,000  Natives  and 
about  8,000  Europeans,  of  whom  about  4,000  are  in  commercial  pursuits,  2,500  govern- 
ment officials,  and  1,150  missionaries.  Even  in  the  Union  of  South  Africa  there 
are  but  a  million  and  a  half  of  white  people  in  a  total  population  of  seven  and  a 
quarter  millions.  These  significant  statistics  point  emphatically  to  the  necessity  of 
cooperation.  If  the  negligible  number  of  Europeans  are  to  be  successful  in  trans- 
ferring the  influences  of  civilization  to  the  African  millions  they  must  unite  their 
various  contributions  and  as  soon  as  possible  invite  Native  leadership  to  share  their 
responsibility. 

Illustrations  of  successful  cooperation  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  indicate  the 
wisdom  and  the  character  of  the  efforts  to  encourage  cooperation  in  the  future.  The 
British  colonies  are  notable  in  their  formation  of  government  executive  councils 
composed  of  members  representing  government,  commerce,  and  Native  people. 
While  these  bodies  are  advisory  and  deliberative  in  character,  they  exert  real  influence 
upon  legislation.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  such  councils  will  later  include  representa- 
tives of  missions  as  well. 

ELEMENTS  OF  COOPERATION 

The  King  of  Belgium  has  appointed  a  Commission  for  the  Protection  of 
Natives,  representing  government,  commerce,  and  missions.  Cape  Province  of 
South  Africa  has  organized  the  Native  Bhunga,  a  government  council  which 
enables  the  African  people  to  express  their  ideas  concerning  taxation,  education, 
and  various  proposals  for  legislation.  The  Natal  Missionary  Board  of  Advice  has 
been  appointed  by  the  Education  Department  of  Natal.  Missions  are  increasingly 
recognizing  the  importance  of  intermissionary  conferences.  Possibly  the  most 
important  of  all  are  the  South  African  Native  Welfare  Associations,  composed  of 
white  and  Native  people,  who  meet  to  improve  interracial  conditions.  The 
urgency  of  a  thorough  consideration  of  cooperative  relationships  among  govern- 
ment, missions,  commercial  concerns,  and  Natives  is  emphasized  by  the  increasing 
tendency  of  national  governments  to  control  education  so  that  they  may  determine 
what  has  been  called  "the  national  culture."  This  object  has  been  discussed  from 
several  points  in  recent  issues  of  the  International  Missionary  Review  by  Professor 
Paul  Monroe,  Sir  Michael  E.  Sadler,  and  Mr.  J.  H.  Oldham.  The  second  part  of  the 
present  chapter  presents  the  probability  of  such  control  in  Africa,  the  advantages  of 
a  wise  policy  of  government  direction,  and  the  irreparable  losses  to  both  the  colony  and 


82 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


the  Native  people  resulting  from  an  absolute  or  arbitrary  control  of  education. 
The  following  sections  outline  the  educational  possibilities  of  the  governments,  mis- 
sions, commercial  and  industrial  concerns,  and  the  African  people. 

The  Government 

The  government  as  an  element  of  cooperation  in  education  is  more  important  than 
any  of  the  others,  though  the  direct  contributions  of  governments  to  the  school 
systems  of  Africa  are  at  present  comparatively  small.  Reference  to  the  colonial 
chapters  shows  that  in  some  colonies  the  government's  participation  is  almost  negli- 
gible. In  the  evaluation  of  the  government's  part  in  education  it  has  seemed  fair 
to  give  all  possible  credit  to  the  departments  of  health,  agriculture,  administration, 
and  also  to  those  concerned  with  law  and  order.  The  initial  efforts  of  governments 
in  the  winning  of  primitive  and  barbarous  tribes  to  civilization  have  necessarily  been 
concerned  with  sanitation,  landing  and  traveUng  facilities,  law  and  order.  The 
extension  activities  of  government  departments  in  behalf  of  rural  and  urban  areas 
described  elsewhere  have  been  substantial  and  important.  The  nature  and  extent 
of  these  activities  have  varied  from  colony  to  colony.  These  variations  have  de- 
pended upon  the  length  of  time  of  colonial  occupation,  the  policy  of  the  home  govern- 
ment, and  most  of  all  upon  the  type  of  government  officials.  The  historical  records 
of  the  colonies  reveal  many  changes  in  policies  and  in  personnel.  The  fortresses 
built  in  early  days  are  monuments  of  the  selfish  motives  with  which  many  govern- 
ments entered  Africa  to  exploit  the  resources  and  to  enslave  the  people.  Various 
forms  of  peonage  have  been  general  in  the  intervening  periods,  and  still  prevail  in 
some  places.  There  has  been,  however,  a  decided  evolution  in  motives  and  methods, 
and  it  may  be  truly  said  that  most  of  the  governments  now  realize  that  it  is  to  the 
interest  of  all  concerned  to  deal  justly  with  the  Native  people. 

The  proportion  of  government  officials  of  ability,  character,  and  culture  is  pleas- 
ingly large.  The  visitor  is  frequently  surprised  by  the  long  years  of  service  rendered 
by  officers  of  the  government  and  by  the  number  of  university  graduates.  Of  a 
large  number  of  government  officials  it  may  be  said  that  while  they  may  have  come 
with  mixed  motives,  some  desiring  the  emoluments  of  office,  some  the  prestige  of 
governmental  authority,  a  majority  receive  their  permanent  satisfaction  from  a 
consciousness  of  service  well  rendered,  not  only  to  their  government,  but  also  to  a 
backward  and  needy  people.  They  labor  under  conditions  of  physical  discomfort, 
loneliness,  irritating  criticisms  of  superiors,  and  ungrateful  complaint  of  those  whom 
they  serve.  It  is  not  possible  to  differentiate  the  types  of  officers  in  the  various 
colonies  visited.  Comparison  of  types  as  they  are  presented  in  colonial  chapters  is  a 
valuable  basis  for  such  differentiation.  Special  appreciation  must  be  expressed 
for  the  high  average  of  ability  and  character  among  the  British  officers.  Their  educa- 
tional attainments  and  long  experience,  their  devotion  to  duty,  their  maintenance  of 
justice  for  the  Native  people,  have  combined  to  make  the  British  colonies  notable 
among  all  the  African  colonies. 


COOPERATION  FOR  KDlICyVTION 


83 


COMMEKCIAL  AND  InDUSTUIAL  CONCERNS 

The  jiersonnel  of  tlie  mercantile  and  industrial  agencies  constitute  tlie  largest 
of  the  Eurojjean  groups  working  in  the  African  colonies.  They  have  come  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  developing  the  economic  resources  of  the  colony.  They  represent 
a  variety  of  educational  preparation,  character,  and  business  experience.  They  are 
the  products  of  the  social  systems  of  the  countries  from  which  they  have  come.  To 
the  Natives  they  are  the  interpreters  of  the  civilization  that  produced  them.  For 
good  or  for  ill  they  are  in  every  colony  in  larger  numbers  than  government  officials 
or  missionaries. 

The  contribution  of  the  members  of  the  commercial  and  industrial  group  to  the 
education  and  civilization  of  the  Native  people  differs  not  only  according  to  their 
nationality  but  also  according  to  their  individuality.  Whatever  their  faults  in 
personality  or  in  purposes,  they  reflect  the  strengths  and  weaknesses  of  their  national 
or  racial  groups.  To  disregard  or  discount  them  for  their  economic  interests  is  to  leave 
out  of  consideration  a  fundamental  factor  in  human  society.  Their  part  in  developing 
the  economic  possibilities  of  the  colony  is  essential  to  the  welfare  and  progress  of  the 
country  and  the  people.  The  colonial  chapters  refer  briefly  to  their  achievements. 
It  was  not  possible  to  give  an  adequate  summary  of  their  activities. 

With  full  credit  for  all  that  the  commercial  interests  have  done,  it  is  certain 
that  they  could  have  accomplished  much  more  if  they  had  realized  the  relation  of 
their  economic  activities  to  the  general  welfare  of  the  Native  people  and  the  colony. 
Observation  indicates  that  the  mercantile  and  industrial  groups  have  not  under- 
stood how  vitally  their  economic  success  depends  upon  the  general  w^elfare  of  the 
colony.  Probably  the  most  important  lesson  of  sound  economics  is  that  which 
teaches  the  inevitable  interrelation  of  business  and  industry  with  the  health,  educa- 
tion, and  morals  of  the  general  community.  Under  the  stress  of  pioneer  conditions 
the  commercial  forces  have  occupied  themselves  almost  exclusively  with  the  im- 
mediate ends  of  commerce  and  industry.  Sometimes  their  arduous  labors  under 
tropical  heat  and  their  loneliness  through  long  periods  of  separation  from  European 
associates  have  developed  indifference  to  the  vital  conventions  of  society  and  have 
driven  them  to  excesses  that  have  been  destructive  of  any  helpful  influence  they  might 
have  had  on  the  Native  people.  Their  educational  demands  in  behaff  of  the  Natives 
have  been  almost  exclusively  for  a  limited  amount  of  training  in  clerical  or  industrial 
activities.  They  have  been  strangely  indifferent  even  to  the  economic  value  of  agri- 
cultural training.  They  have  not  seemed  to  understand  that  improving  the  general 
economic  w^eU-being  of  the  community  through  a  more  effective  cultivation  of  the  soil 
would  necessarily  contribute  to  their  own  wealth.  Much  less  have  they  been  con- 
cerned wdth  the  health  and  morals  of  the  people.  Unfortunately  there  seems 
to  have  been  very  little  effort  on  the  part  of  the  government  or  the  missions  to  arouse 
the  interest  of  these  economic  groups  in  the  general  welfare  of  the  Native  people. 

Recently  the  leaders  of  industry  and  commerce  have  given  expression  to  sig- 
nificant convictions  as  to  the  relation  of  economics  to  the  social  welfare  of  the  Native 
people.    Both  the  African  World  and  West  Africa,  two  useful  magazines  concerned 


84 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


with  conditions  in  Africa,  liave  published  pronouncements  on  these  subjects  with 
strong  editorial  comments.  The  following  quotation  entitled  "Lord  Leverhulme's 
Policy"  is  a  worthy  presentation  of  the  attitude  that  is  needed: 

Since  their  further  acquisition  of  interests  in  West  Africa,  neither  Lord  Leverhulme  nor  his  son,  the 
Hon.  W.  Hulme  Lever,  has  lost  an  opportunity  of  promulgating  the  opinions  that  will  be  advantageous 
to  that  territory.  It  is  indeed  gratifying  to  find  views  that  are  sound,  practical,  and  yet  allied  to  idealism 
— that  much-abused  word — in  a  sphere  from  which  radiates  so  much  influence.  At  Port  Sunlight  recently, 
after  his  son's  illustrated  lecture  on  Nigeria,  Lord  Leverhulme  impressed  on  those  who  are  co-partners 
in  Messrs.  Lever  Bros.,  Ltd.,  that  they  were  associated  with  vast  interests,  and  bis  words  indicated  a 
policy  which  cannot  fail  to  be  beneficial  to  all  alike — a  realization  of  responsibility  to  their  business,  to 
shareholders,  and  also  an  equal  responsibility  to  West  Africans.  "Surely  the  right  line  of  conduct,"  said 
Lord  Leverhulme,  "  is  not  only  to  act  as  traders  .  .  .  but  also  during  that  process  to  carry  the  benefits 
of  the  thousands  of  years  that  there  has  been  development  in  Europe  to  those  people  whom  you  have 
seen  in  the  pictures  on  the  screen  tonight."  We  remember  on  another  occasion  tte  emphasis  of  "a  square 
deal,"  by  one  who  is  also  in  a  responsible  position,  and  who  is  as  well  known  in  West  Africa  as  he  is  in 
the  business  sphere  on  this  side.  Side  by  side  with  the  words  of  the  head  of  Messrs.  Lever  Bros. — ^"With 
backward  races  we  need  to  have  strict  discipline,  a  keen  business  knowledge,  and,  above  all,  the  'square 
deal'" — is  the  recollection  of  General  Grey's  words  at  the  Lyceum  Club  dinner.  There  would  not  be 
such  a  sense  of  injury  in  West  Africa  if  a  policy  like  this  were  carried  into  effect,  and  times  like  these  would 
be  less  hazardous. 

The  ideals  here  outlined  by  Lord  Leverhulme  and  General  Grey  have  been  realized 
W'ith  remarkable  success  in  the  educational  activities  made  possible  in  America 
by  the  wise  philanthropy  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation.  Some  of  these  activities 
are  described  in  other  chapters  of  this  Report  as  types  that  might  well  be  utilized 
in  African  colonies. 

Missions 

Fundamental  as  the  authority  and  influence  of  government  have  been  to  the 
processes  of  civilizing  the  Native  people,  important  as  the  work  and  organization  of 
commercial  and  industrial  concerns  are  to  the  colony,  the  services  of  the  missionaries 
equal  and  in  some  respects  surpass  those  of  all  other  groups  in  the  quality  of  their 
influence  on  the  African  people.  The  extent  of  their  educational  activities  is 
presented  in  the  colonial  chapters  and  the  character  of  the  organization  and  super- 
vision has  been  discussed  in  other  parts  of  the  Report.  The  observation  of  the  Educa- 
tion Commission  and  the  governmental  records  all  agree  that  the  school  systems  are 
almost  exclusively  the  result  of  missionary  efforts.  Whatever  the  defects  of  these  schools 
may  be,  they  usually  represent  the  ideas  of  education  prevailing  in  the  home  country. 
As  the  government  and  the  economic  organizations  have  brought  to  Africa  the 
European  or  American  ideas  of  government  and  business  methods,  so  the  mission- 
aries have  naturally  brought  the  educational  ideals  of  their  own  country,  though  it 
is  only  fair  to  say  that  they  are  gradually  adapting  education  to  the  needs  of  the 
people  among  whom  they  are  working. 

Frequently  misunderstood,  the  missionaries  have  been  called  sentimentalists. 
Some  of  them  are  deserving  of  this  charge.  Missionaries  as  a  class,  however,  are  really 
pioneers  in  human  improvement,  interpreters  of  the  language  and  customs  of  the 


COOPERATION  FOR  EDUCATION 


85 


people,  the  first  teachers  of  civiHzation.  Tliey  are  tlie  pioneer  sanitarians,  educators, 
farmers,  and  home-makers,  among  the  primitive  people.  Without  them  both  govern- 
ment and  trade  would  have  been  seriously  hampered.  They  believe,  and  rightly  be- 
lieve in  the  power  of  religion  as  manifested  by  Jesus  Christ,  to  give  the  motive  and 
goal  for  the  regeneration  of  the  individual  and  society.  They  know  that  the  religious 
motive  is  the  deepest  and  most  abiding  in  the  life  of  the  Natives.  Sometimes  they 
fail  to  realize  that  the  emotional  belief  in  religion  is  not  sufficient,  but  more  often 
than  not  bitter  experience  has  shown  them  that  religion  must  be  worked  out  in  the 
habits  of  life.  Under  the  inspiration  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  they  labor  on 
amidst  difficulties  that  seem  insurmountable.  They  continue  their  work  even  when 
other  Europeans  and  the  Natives  endeavor  to  convince  them  of  the  futility  of  their 
labors.  Enduring  physical  discomfort  and  disease,  separation  from  friends  and  home, 
lack  of  appreciation,  they  persist  in  their  service  to  the  Native  people.  So  devoted 
to  their  tasks  do  they  become  as  almost  to  identify  themselves  with  the  people  and 
the  country.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  governments,  merchants,  and  civilized  people 
everywhere  may  realize  that  Christian  missionaries  are  generally  the  pioneers  in  all 
that  is  good  in  international  movements  for  the  improvement  of  humanity. 

The  Native  People 

The  cooperation  of  the  Native  people  is  essential  to  the  success  of  educational 
organization  in  the  African  colonies.  The  authority  of  government,  the  economic 
power  of  commerce  and  industry,  and  the  devotion  of  missionaries  become  effective 
as  they  work  with  and  through  the  Native  people.  In  the  colonial  chapters  the  num- 
ber and  variety  of  African  people  have  been  indicated.  They  are  millions  in  number 
as  against  the  tens  and  hundreds  of  Europeans.  Their  condition  ranges  from  barbarism 
to  a  civilization  that  reflects  the  influence  of  European  nations.  There  are  also 
tribal  differences  and  considerable  gradations  of  ability  within  the  tribal  group. 
The  great  Bantu  peoples  are  the  chief  elements  of  population  south  of  the  equator. 
The  Negro  stocks  occupy  the  West  African  colonies;  and  varied  ethnic  groups,  with 
many  evidences  of  oriental  and  Mohammedan  influences,  are  in  North  Central  and 
North  Eastern  Africa.  The  variations  of  population  groups  in  such  matters  as 
physique,  tribal  customs,  language,  and  governmental  influences  are  emphasized  by 
the  climatic  and  physical  features  of  the  country  where  they  live.  Some  are  fisher- 
men on  rivers  and  coasts;  some  are  nomadic  tribes  on  extensive  plains;  some  are 
farmers  on  high  and  fertile  plateaus;  some  are  hunters  in  forest  country;  and  all 
show  the  varied  influences  of  land,  water,  and  climate. 

It  is  evident  that  sound  colonial  policy  must  provide  for  the  effective  participation 
of  the  Native  people  in  all  efforts  for  the  development  of  the  colony  and  the  im- 
provement of  the  people.  The  natural  tendency  of  a  strong  and  civilized  nation 
is  to  disregard  the  simple  ways  of  a  primitive  people  and  to  impose  their  civilized 
customs  upon  the  uncivilized  masses.  Sometimes  this  is  done  consciously  and  en- 
forced by  governmental  authority.  An  especially  unfortunate  form  of  this  policy 
recently  enacted  by  two  colonial  powers  is  that  which  limits  the  use  of  the  Native 


86 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


language  in  the  colonial  schools.  More  frequently  the  disregard  of  Native  customs 
is  the  result  of  the  iniconscious  attitude  of  the  European.  However  unconscious  it 
may  be  on  the  part  of  the  European,  the  Natives  respond,  sometimes  with  a  feeling 
of  hopeless  submission  to  the  inevitable,  but  often  in  an  enthusiastic  adoption  of 
European  customs  entirely  unsuited  to  African  conditions.  Thus  the  good  as  well 
as  the  bad  elements  of  African  life  are  thoughtlessly  thrown  into  the  discard.  Tribal 
conventions  necessary  to  the  morals  and  morale  of  the  individual  and  the  group 
may  be  destroyed  before  other  conventions  have  been  established  in  their  stead. 
Most  unfortunate  of  all  is  the  resultant  loss  of  self-respect  of  Native  groups  in  the 
presence  of  European  civilization. 

There  is  now  evidence  that  governments  and  missions  are  becoming  conscious  of 
these  defects  in  European  attitudes  and  policies.  The  world-wide  discussion  of  self- 
determination  is  causing  the  European  groups  to  give  more  consideration  to  the 
customs  of  people  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  The  demand  for  "nationalism"  and 
"self-determmation"  by  Native  groups  in  all  the  continents  is  often  feverish  in 
character  and  frequently  antagonistic  to  the  possibilities  of  cooperative  relations. 
In  these  extreme  forms,  the  movements  are  destructive  of  the  implications  of  human 
brotherhood  and  are  defiant  of  historical  records,  which  show  that  all  nations  owe 
some  of  their  progress  to  contact  with  others. 

Several  policies  have  been  proposed  to  make  possible  the  participation  of  the 
Natives  in  government  and  missions.  One  policy  has  no  regard  for  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  Native  people  and  proposes  to  use  them  in  the  subordinate  positions 
which  they  can  fill.  A  second  policy  proposes  to  recognize  a  complete  differentiation 
of  the  Natives  from  the  Europeans  and  to- use  them  as  individuals  and  as  tribal 
groups  without  making  any  definite  effort  to  impart  to  them  European  methods. 
A  third  policy  proposes  to  give  every  possible  recognition  to  the  Native  customs 
and  qualities  and  at  the  same  time  introduce  such  European  methods  as  the  African 
conditions  demand.  It  is  evident  that  the  first  policy  disregards  the  possibilities 
of  the  Native  people  and  is  not  a  sincere  effort  to  develop  genuine  participation. 
The  second  policy  is  so  extreme  in  its  recognition  of  Native  customs  as  to  amount 
to  a  denial  of  the  value  of  European  methods  or  the  capacity  of  the  Natives  to  profit 
at  all  by  European  experience.  There  is  no  adequate  defense  of  a  policy  that  refuses 
to  give  the  Native  people  such  benefits  of  civilization  as  the  African  conditions 
demand.  Such  a  policy  is  artificial  and  the  progress  of  civilization  among  the  African 
people  will  prove  its  futility.  At  present  the  second  policy  is  being  seriously  con- 
sidered by  many  government  ofiicials.  Its  simplicity  appeals  to  those  who  are 
confronted  by  the  perplexing  problems  of  adjusting  civilization  to  primitive  life. 
It  is  to  be  hoped,  however,  that  those  responsible  for  the  welfare  of  the  Native  people 
will  not  be  deceived  by  the  simplicity  of  the  plan  or  by  its  plausibility  as  a  recognition 
of  Native  rights.  Simplicity  is  not  necessarily  an  indication  of  sound  method,  and 
the  extreme  recognition  of  Native  customs  may  easily  mean  the  denial  of  Native 
rights  to  the  benefits  of  the  achievements  of  civilization.  However  ]3erplexing  it  may 
be  to  combine  the  best  elements  of  primitive  life  with  the  adaptable  elements  of 


COOPERATION  FOR  EDUCATION 


87 


civilization,  good  statesmanship  demands  tlie  adoptTon  of  the  third  policy,  which 
requires  that  the  colonies  and  the  i)eople  shall  be  ruled  and  developed  according 
to  the  best  experience  of  both  primitive  and  civilized  society. 

Recognition  of  the  Native  people  as  the  fourth  element  of  cooperation  involves  a 
careful  study  of  Native  life  from  every  possible  angle.  This  requires  patience  and  a 
sympathetic  appreciation  of  the  past  as  well  as  the  present  of  the  Africans.  Of  the 
many  publications  available  concerning  Africa  and  its  people,  comparatively  few  are 
based  upon  an  accurate  and  sympathetic  appreciation  of  the  influences  that  mould 
the  life  of  the  people.  Most  of  the  writers  seem  to  have  been  interested  in  the  pres- 
entation of  the  unusual,  and  they  have  accordingly  dwelt  upon  the  extreme  con- 
ditions. Government  officials  have  desired  to  emphasize  the  difficulties  of  their  job. 
Missionaries,  eager  to  enlist  help,  have  dwelt  too  much  upon  the  serious  conditions 
of  life  that  exist.  Even  the  writers  of  African  origin  have  not  seemed  to  realize  the 
importance  of  showing  the  normal  elements  in  the  life  of  the  people  and  in  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  country. 

It  is  the  conviction  of  the  Education  Commission  that  the  first  condition  of  an 
accurate  appreciation  of  the  Native  people  is  the  realization  that  their  past  develop- 
ment and  their  present  status  are  normal  states  of  human  society,  whether  that  state 
be  cannibalistic,  barbarous,  primitive,  or  civilized.  That  African  groups  are  now  dis- 
tributed among  these  various  stages  merely  proves  that  they  are  passing  through  the 
normal  processes  of  development.  The  endeavor  to  prove  the  inferiority  or  the  equality 
of  the  African  people  is  futile.  The  important  problem  is  to  determine  their  present 
condition  and  the  character  of  their  response  to  the  influences  of  civilization  and 
Christianity.  Even  in  the  hurried  tour  of  the  Education  Commission,  every  member 
of  the  party  observed  numerous  evidences  of  the  responsiveness  and  improvability 
of  the  African  people.  Many  tribes  have  a  folklore  of  homely  wisdom,  long  and 
dignified  stories  of  ancestral  achievements,  and  interesting  traditions  for  the  guidance 
of  individuals,  families,  and  tribes.  There  are  Native  songs  and  games  and  other 
forms  of  amusements  comparable  to  those  of  primitive  people  of  other  continents. 
The  language  of  the  drum  in  every  part  of  Africa  always  awakens  the  interest  of  the 
traveler  and  recalls  similar  methods  of  communication  used  by  the  ancestors  of 
civilized  nations.  The  linguistic  ability  of  Native  Africans  is  recognized  by  all  who 
know  Africa.  An  adequate  study  of  the  languages  will  undoubtedly  reveal  many 
important  qualities  of  African  mind  and  character  hitherto  unknown.*  Even  the  casual 
observer  is  impressed  by  the  handicraft  of  many  tribes.  There  are  goldsmiths,  copper 
and  iron  workers,  weavers  of  fibre  and  wool,  and  those  skilled  in  pottery,  leather, 
wood  and  ivory.  ^Vhile  much  of  the  work  is  crude,  it  compares  favorably  with  that  of 
the  ancestors  of  civilized  people  at  the  same  stage  of  development. 

The  colonial  chapters  contain  numerous  references  to  the  Native  people  who  have 
been  trained  by  missions,  government,  and  by  commercial  and  industrial  concerns. 
African  men  have  been  observed  working  in  almost  every  possible  capacity  in  the 
economic,  governmental,  and  educational  activities  of  the  colonies  visited.  They 
occupy  positions  in  commerce  as  clerks  and  storekeepers;  in  industry  as  carpenters, 

*See  Johnston,  Sir  Harry  H.  A  Comparative  Study  of  the  Bantu  and  Semi- Bantu  Languages,  Oxford, 
Clarendon  Press,  1919. 


88 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


blacksmiths,  chauffeurs,  and  engme  drivers;  in  government  as  clerks,  sanitary  in- 
spectors, and  custom  officials;  and  in  the  professions  as  ministers,  teachers,  lawyers, 
and  physicians.  WTiile  the  number  of  women  employed  in  skilled  occupations  is  as 
yet  comparatively  small,  it  is  sufficient  to  prove  their  capacity  to  undertake  their 
share  in  the  more  advanced  activities  of  colonial  life.  The  small  number  at  the 
present  time  is  explained  by  the  pioneer  conditions  prevailing  in  a  large  part  of  Africa. 
It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  development  of  every  part  of  the  continent  has  been 
much  accelerated  by  the  rapidity  with  which  the  Native  people  have  responded  to 
the  educational  activities  in  their  behalf. 

It  is  significant  that  the  educated  Native  people  of  the  upper  West  Coast  are 
now  employed  in  positions  of  importance  in  the  southern  sections  of  West  Africa. 
Many  positions  on  the  railways  and  in  commercial  concerns  of  French  and  Belgian 
Congo  are  held  by  the  Natives  from  Dakar,  Freetown,  and  various  points  on  the 
Gold  Coast  and  Nigeria.  With  the  adaptation  of  education  to  the  hygienic,  economic, 
and  character  needs  of  the  people,  and  with  the  extension  of  school  facilities  to  the 
masses,  it  is  certain  that  the  Native  people  will  become  increasingly  important  in  all 
cooperative  movements  for  the  development  of  the  colony. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  foregoing  paragraphs  have  indicated  the  importance  of  the 
Native  people  as  an  element  of  cooperation  for  the  development  of  Africa.  The 
appreciation  of  this  fact  on  the  part  of  the  European  is  in  some  respects  easily  attained, 
but  in  other  respects  it  requires  a  quality  of  sympathy  and  insight  not  generally 
possessed  by  civilized  groups  in  their  association  with  primitive  people.  The  conceits 
of  education  and  nationality  too  frequently  tend  to  hide  the  simple  elements  of 
primitive  life.  The  beginnings  of  civilization  are  necessarily  concerned  with  the  little 
things  of  the  individual  and  the  community.  The  sincere  student  must  be  willing 
to  give  serious  consideration  to  the  seemingly  unimportant  activities  of  the  individual 
and  the  group.  In  the  main  such  a  study  of  the  tribal  group  will  probably  be  con- 
cerned with  the  home,  the  work,  the  amusements,  tribal  authority,  and  religious  life. 
The  method  and  spirit  of  approach  to  every  phase  of  primitive  society  are  well  illus- 
trated by  the  following  account  of  African  women,  described  by  one  who  has  evidently 
entered  into  the  sorrows  as  well  as  the  joys  of  the  African  community:* 

A  little  village  in  the  heart  of  the  bush  at  evening  time — the  sunlight  dying  away,  smoke  rising  up  in 
little  spirals  from  the  yards  of  the  houses — a  subdued  sound  of  life,  and  a  sense  of  expectancy  hanging 
over  everything.  Men  sitting  silently  and  patiently  under  the  trees  in  the  village  street,  children  squatting 
in  little  groups  on  the  sand,  talking  and  playing,  or  moving  restlessly  about  the  house  doors — the  sound 
of  the  pounding  of  food  for  the  evening  meal  heard  on  all  sides.  In  the  glow  of  the  fire  the  women  stirring 
and  preparing  the  food  for  serving  hardworking,  unintelligent,  patient  creatures  who  seem  content  with 
life  chiefly  because  they  don't  even  think  enough  to  resent  it.  They  have  got  up  with  the  sun,  spent  the 
day  in  hard  labor,  toiling  to  the  spring  to  bring  back  heavy  pots  of  water,  hoeing  and  clearing  land  in  the 
plantations,  carrying  cumbrous  loads  of  produce  to  market,  and  doing  the  various  small  tasks  that  con- 
stitute such  care  of  house  and  children  as  are  sufficient  to  keep  these  going.  These  are  the  women  who 
are  most  constantly  in  one's  mind  in  speaking  of  the  women  of  Africa. 

Others  there  are — all  sorts. 

One  of  the  things  that  saddens  most  is  the  sight  of  girls  in  primitive  places  when  they  are  in  the 
"marriage  market" — girls  whose  only  clothing  is  the  colored  chalk  that  patterns  their  bodies,  or  the  strings 

*From  an  article  by  Mrs.  A.  W.  Wilkie. 


COOPERATION  FOR  EDUCATION 


89 


of  beads,  or  the  heavy  copper  anklets,  or  the  brass  rings  barbarously  disfiguring— sometimes  the  teeth 
are  blackened,  sometimes  sharpened  to  a  point,  sometimes  some  are  drawn,  ('ostume  and  custom  vary 
according  to  different  locality,  but  what  characterizes  almost  all  of  them  is  a  sort  of  bold  conceit,  not  to 
be  wondered  at  when  all  the  publicity  of  the  offensive  puberty  ceremonies  are  remembered.  Such  girls 
have  a  long  way  to  go! 

Then  there  is  the  pathetic  crowd  of  women  who  have  realized  that  there  is  something  which  tbey 
have  not  got  but  would  fain  have.  One  often  sees  in  a  church  service  one  woman  with  a  hymn  book,  and 
two  others  in  a  bench  in  front  hanging  on  to  this  hymn  book  too,  gazing  anxiously  at  it  upside  down  as  if 
there  were  some  virtue  in  the  mere  print.  These  are  the  sort  of  women  who  with  no  knowledge  them.selves 
of  even  the  alphabet,  yet  toil  extra  hard  in  the  house  so  that  their  daughters  may  go  to  school  and  enter 
the  magic  ranks  of  the  educated;  wishful  that  these  same  daughters  may  not  soil  the  glory  of  their  super- 
iority by  putting  finger  to  pot  or  pan;  some  of  them  so  covet  that  wonderful  knowledge  that  when  the 
day's  hard  work  is  done  they  limp  off  with  tired  feet  in  the  light  of  a  hurricane  lamp  to  some  learned  scholar 
who  can  read  words  of  two  syllables,  and  there  they  sit  patiently  following  the  letters  of  the  dirty  primer 
with  a  toil-worn  finger,  anxiously  trying  to  understand  the  mysteries  of  "g,  o,"  "go"  and  "i,  n,"  "in." 
These  women  are  perhaps  the  most  pathetic  of  all. 

In  any  coast  town  or  large  center — the  Europeanized  girls  in  crowds  dressed  in  the  latest  fashion, 
wearing  hats,  carrying  sunshades — all  sorts  and  conditions,  as  in  any  place  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  in- 
telligent and  healthy  minded,  many  of  them,  but  having  lost  touch  with  much  that  is  African — inevitably 
— and  without  much  interest  in  their  fellow  creatures  of  the  dark  bush  places. 

The  poorer  type  of  these  are  the  girls  who  have  got  the  "little  knowledge"  that  is  dangerous!  European 
clothes,  but  not  rightly  made  and  not  rightly  put  on,  high-heeled  shoes  without  the  knack  of  walking  in 
them,  faces  disfigured  with  too  much  white  powder,  only  enough  education  to  make  them  think  so  much 
of  themselves  that  they  will  let  their  old  mothers  do  all  the  work  for  them,  only  enough  civilization  to 
make  them  look  down  on  girls  who  wear  only  Native  cloths. 

Among  the  most  diflBcult  of  all  types — those  who  have  lived  in  contact  with  civilization,  without 
education  or  any  other  palliating  influence;  who  have  absorbed  only  what  is  worst  in  that  contact  and 
who  have  lost  by  it  all  the  good  traits  of  the  African  and  gained  nothing  instead.  These  are  a  reproach  to  us. 

And  there  are  the  sensible  capable  women  who  with  a  good  education  have  at  the  same  time  managed 
to  remain  Africans.  Combining  all  the  ease  and  self-confidence  of  culture  with  the  simplicity  of  Africans, 
one  of  these  women  in  her  pretty  tidy  home,  dressed  in  graceful  native  costume,  with  beautiful  upright 
carriage,  bright  intelligent  face,  displaying  such  wealth  of  hospitality  as  only  an  African  can,  is  a  type 
of  the  real  glory  of  African  womanhood. 

FORMS  OF  COOPERATION 

The  colonial  chapters  present  illustrations  of  cooperation  through  the  combina- 
tion of  two  or  more  of  the  four  elements  described  in  the  preceding  section.  The 
executive  councils  of  British  colonies  include  representatives  of  the  government, 
commerce,  and  the  Native  people.  The  Belgian  Congo  Commission  for  the  Pro- 
tection of  Natives  represents  the  government,  commerce,  and  missions.  The  Trans- 
keian  Native  Councils  of  South  Africa  are  composed  of  Natives  and  government 
officials.  The  Natal  Missionary  Board  of  Advice  is  composed  of  missionaries  in 
conference  with  officers  of  the  Government  Department  of  Education.  There  are 
various  committees  and  conferences  composed  of  the  representatives  of  Protestant 
mission  societies.  In  South  Africa  there  are  Native  welfare  associations  composed 
of  interracial  committees  of  white  and  Native  people.  There  are  also  organizations 
of  Native  people  in  different  parts  of  Africa.  These  associations  are  of  varying 
degrees  of  stability  and  wisdom.    They  are  indications  of  the  desire  of  the  Native 


90 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


peojile  to  express  their  own  Native  point  of  view,  and  thej'^  are  forerunners  of  organi- 
zations that  are  destined  to  have  increasing  influence  in  African  affairs.  These 
various  forms  of  cooperation  are  significant  beginnings  of  movements  that  will  soon 
combine  all  the  forces  of  Africa  for  the  civilization  and  education  of  the  Native  people. 

Government  and  Missions 

The  nature  and  extent  of  cooperation  between  the  government  and  missions  in 
the  organization  and  maintenance  of  school  systems  differ  according  to  the  colonial 
power  in  control.  In  the  early  periods  of  every  colony,  practically  all  the  educa- 
tional work  was  maintained  by  the  mission  societies.  With  the  extension  of  civili- 
zation and  the  increased  control  of  affairs  by  the  colonial  power,  each  government 
has  manifested  more  interest  in  the  educational  systems.  In  the  British  colonies 
this  interest  is  shown  in  appropriations  given  to  schools  that  meet  the  standards  of 
efficiency  required  by  the  educational  authorities.  In  these  colonies,  too,  a  few 
government  schools  have  been  established.  The  mission  and  other  private  schools 
are  permitted  to  carry  on  their  work  with  practically  no  supervision.  In  the  Belgian 
Congo  the  government  maintains  a  few  schools  staffed  almost  entirely  by  teaching 
Brotherhoods  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  Private  and  mission  schools  are 
welcomed  and  encouraged  by  gifts  of  land,  but  there  are  no  regular  appropriations 
from  the  government  for  their  support.  In  the  French  colonies  the  government  is 
organizing  and  maintaining  schools  as  rapidly  as  funds  and  personnel  make  possible, 
but  as  yet  the  number  of  schools  is  almost  negligible  in  comparison  with  the  needs. 
The  control  of  private  and  mission  schools  is  increasingly  strict  and  minute  as  to 
curriculum  and  teaching  staff.  The  character  of  the  control  is  such  as  seriously  to 
hamper  the  activities  of  Protestant  missionaries  who  have  long  rendered  valuable 
educational  service  in  the  colonies  where  they  are  working.  In  the  Portuguese  colonies 
the  government  depends  almost  entirely  on  the  missions  for  the  education  of  the 
Natives.  There  are  a  few  state  schools,  but  as  yet  the  government  plan  to  extend 
education  is  not  sufficiently  realized  to  offer  hope  for  the  future.  Effort  is  now  being 
made  to  control  the  educational  activities  of  missions.  The  methods  proposed  for 
the  exercise  of  this  control  have  possibilities  of  unfortunate  limitations  upon  mission 
schools  that  have  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  colony  and  the  Natives.  In  the 
Union  of  South  Africa  the  provincial  governments  are  giving  increasing  financial 
assistance  to  the  mission  schools,  and  multiplying  the  government  schools.  Parallel 
with  this  movement  is  the  recognition  of  the  representatives  of  the  mission  societies 
as  members  of  the  advisory  committees  to  the  provincial  departments  of  education. 

It  is  evident  that  the  governments  are  increasing  financial  aid  as  well  as  extending 
their  control  of  the  school  systems.  This  movement  will  probably  extend  until  the 
governments  are  assured  that  the  people  are  being  trained  for  every  phase  of  life. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  legal  right  and  duty  of  a  nation  to  direct  the  educa- 
tion of  its  people,  but  the  strong  movement  toward  national  control  of  education  is 
a  source  of  much  perplexity  to  the  representatives  of  mission  societies.  Reference 
has  already  been  made  to  the  able  presentations  of  views  on  this  subject  in  the  Inter- 


COOPERATION  FOR  EDUCATION 


91 


national  Missionary  Review*  There  is  need  for  .i  clear  .'ij)[)rcc'iation  of  the  place  of 
the  government  and  mission  or  private  schools  in  the  general  scheme  of  education  in 
Africa.  The  following  statements  are  offered  as  suggestions  to  be  considered  by 
governments  and  missions  in  the  formulation  of  educational  policies: 

1.  It  is  the  right  and  duty  of  the  government  to  make  certain  that  African  youth 
are  educated  so  that  they  may  particijjate  effectively  in  the  life  of  the  colony. 

2.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  most  satisfactory  government  policy  with  regard 
to  colonial  schools  is  that  which  provides  for  the  organization  and  maintenance  of 
government  schools,  gives  aid  in  maintaining  standards  for  all  types  of  institutions, 
and  leaves  other  agencies  free  to  organize  independent  schools  whose  activities  are 
not  contrary  to  the  welfare  of  the  colony. 

3.  Mission  and  private  schools  are  now  rendering  four  forms  of  educational 
service.  First,  they  are  the  pioneers  in  school  provision  and  the  chief  supporters  of 
the  school  facilities  in  most  colonies;  second,  they  supplement  the  government  educa- 
tion where  it  is  inadequate;  third,  they  are  experiment  stations  in  which  educational 
adaptations  are  initiated  and  tested;  fourth,  they  are  the  centers  of  Christian  educa- 
tion and  are  necessary  to  the  development  of  Christian  civilization  in  the  colonies. 
The  last  two  functions  listed  constitute  probably  the  most  important  permanent 
services  of  mission  and  private  schools.  Though  the  mission  schools  may  resign  all 
other  functions,  they  cannot  escape  their  responsibility  for  the  training  of  Native 
youth  as  teachers  of  the  great  truths  of  Christianity. 

These  statements  recognize  the  essential  functions  of  both  government  and 
mission  schools.  So  long  as  the  government  is  unable  to  supply  an  adequate  school 
system,  it  is  clear  that  every  encouragement  should  be  offered  to  mission  schools. 
The  government  should,  furthermore,  recognize  the  value  of  private  and  mission 
schools  as  experiment  stations  where  new  methods  of  education  should  be  tried 
without  the  limitations  necessary  to  the  organization  of  government  systems.  It  is 
most  important  that  missions  should  realize  that  their  most  valuable  contribution  to 
education  is  in  the  influence  they  can  exert  on  the  type  of  education.  They  cannot 
hope  to  compete  with  governments  in  multiplying  schools.  Their  chief  function  is  to 
act  as  leavening  centers  through  the  quality  of  their  work  and  especially  through  the 
supply  of  well-prepared  teachers.  To  this  end  it  is  essential  that  missions  should 
regard  quality  as  their  first  end  and  extension  as  their  secondary  consideration.  The 
colonial  chapters  give  several  examples  of  the  remarkable  achievements  of  missions 
that  have  realized  the  importance  of  quality  and  adaptation  as  against  mere  quantity 
of  school  facilities. 

In  determining  the  quality  of  educational  work  it  is  necessary  to  avoid  the  con- 
fusion that  is  now  created  by  the  demand  for  standards  and  pedagogical  methods. 
Too  frequently  standards  are  interpreted  to  mean  merely  the  advanced  grades  of 
school  work  and  pedagogical  methods  are  understood  to  be  the  observance  of  certain 
specialized  classroom  procedure  recognized  in  Europe  or  America.  Missionaries 
impressed  by  the  primitive  conditions  all  about  them  realize  that  the  advanced 
standards  are  not  applicable  and  that  educational  procedure  possible  in  other  conti- 

*See  page  81. 


92 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


nents  is  not  possible  or  desirable  in  Africa.  Recent  studies  of  medical  education 
are  of  great  significance  in  that  they  reveal  the  importance  of  recognizing  modified 
standards  of  medical  training  as  intermediate  steps  in  the  evolution  of  medical  educa- 
tion toward  the  standard  requirements  of  Europe  and  America.  Medical  authorities 
are  not  indifferent  to  the  standard  requirements,  but  they  realize  the  necessity  of 
temporary  modifications  to  suit  the  needs  of  communities  without  adequate  educa- 
tional and  health  facilities.  Similarly,  the  medical  authorities  are  urging  that  the 
methods  of  instruction  be  adjusted  to  the  conditions  they  find  in  the  less  developed 
communities.  It  seems  clear  that  the  example  of  the  medical  profession  should  be 
followed  by  the  officers  of  government  and  mission  schools.  While  the  standard 
requirements  may  well  be  the  ultimate  goal,  it  should  be  recognized  that  schools  with 
somewhat  different  requirements  may  be  best  as  a  provisional  measure  in  most  of  the 
mission  and  colonial  fields  of  education.  Pedagogical  systems  have  as  yet  not  given 
adequate  consideration  in  any  part  of  the  world  to  the  methods  required  in  the  educa- 
tion of  the  masses  of  the  people.  The  methods  have  been  too  exclusively  determined 
by  the  assumed  needs  of  the  individual  and  by  conditions  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the 
schoolroom.  With  the  recognition  of  the  principles  of  sociology,  however,  pedagogical 
methods  in  Europe  ahd  America  will  undoubtedly  undergo  important  changes.  The 
need  for  sociological  study  as  the  basis  for  educational  method  is  more  apparent  and 
more  urgent  in  colonial  fields  than  in  countries  where  school  influences  are  supple- 
mented by  such  institutions  as  the  home,  the  church,  and  many  other  forces  of  highly 
developed  communities.  It  is,  therefore,  vital  that  government  educational  policies 
shall  not  be  determined  too  exclusively  by  traditional  schoolroom  methods,  and  that 
both  government  and  missions  shall  cooperate  to  develop  systems  of  education  that 
are  based  on  careful  study  of  the  needs  of  the  Native  masses  as  well  as  those  of  Native 
leadership. 

Cooperation  of  Mission  Societies 

The  cooperation  of  mission  societies  in  Africa  is  becoming  more  effective  and  more 
general  every  year.  Some  forms  of  associated  activities  among  the  Protestant  mission 
societies  were  found  in  every  colony  visited.  In  South  Africa  cooperation  in  some 
instances  includes  the  friendly  contacts  of  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  societies. 
The  general  organization  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  makes  possible  the  co- 
operative relationship  of  the  various  societies  of  that  church.  They  are  accordingly 
able  to  divide  the  mission  field  among  their  organizations  so  as  to  avoid  all  possi- 
bilities of  duplication.  The  interchange  of  representatives  of  their  various  societies 
enables  all  to  profit  by  the  experiments  in  each  part  of  the  field.  In  view  of  the 
number  and  variety  of  Protestant  societies  in  each  colony,  it  is  exceedingly  desirable 
that  they  shall  have  a  clear  understanding  of  both  the  area  in  which  they  are  working 
and  the  character  of  the  work  done. 

The  General  Conference  of  Protestant  Missionaries  in  the  Congo  is  an  excellent 
illustration  of  the  methods  and  purposes  of  cooperative  association  in  mission  work. 
The  most  recent  meeting,  held  in  November,  1921,  offers  many  suggestions  for  similar 
organizations  in  other  parts  of  Africa.   There  were  present  103  delegates  representing 


COOPERATION  FOR  EDUCATION 


93 


almost  all  the  important  societies  working  in  Congo  Beige  and  some  of  the  societies 
in  those  portions  of  French  and  Portuguese  Congo  immediately  adjacent.  The 
number  of  missionaries  present  included  about  one-fifth  of  the  total  number  of  mis- 
sionaries in  the  areas  represented.  This  large  proportion  indicates  the  extent  and 
effectiveness  of  the  cooperation.  The  subjects  discussed  and  the  resolutions  passed 
reflect  the  wisdom  and  i)ractical  character  of  the  cooperative  arrangement  that  has 
been  established  in  the  Congo.  Among  the  more  important  recommendations  are 
the  following: 

1.  Educational  Policy.  The  further  development  of  the  union  school  at  Kimpese  looking  toward 
secondary  work  when  needed;  the  establishment  at  an  early  dale  of  union  higher  schools  in  various  sections 
of  the  Congo;  and  the  reemphasis  upon  the  need  for  men  especially  trained  in  education,  industry,  and 
agriculture. 

2.  Medical  Policy.  Urging  serious  investigation  of  sleeping  sickness  with  a  view  to  the  organization 
of  an  adequate  campaign  for  its  eradication,  and  appeal  to  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  for  assistance 
in  this  important  work;  the  organization  of  mission  hospitals  with  facilities  for  short  courses  of  instruc- 
tion for  non-medical  missionaries  and  internships  for  newly  appointed  medical  missionaries. 

3.  Production  of  Pamphlets  and  Books  in  Congo  Languages.  A  survey  of  publications  now  available 
and  the  preparation  of  a  standard  list  for  all  tribes;  in  addition  to  the  Bible  and  hymn-books,  there  should 
be  suitable  publications  on  such  topics  as  tropical  hygiene,  African  history,  Belgian  history  and  heroes, 
agriculture.  Native  stories,  sketches  of  Native  Christians,  and  Native  handicrafts. 

4.  Union  Mission  Hostels.  Definite  agreements  have  been  signed  to  organize  a  hostel  at  Kinshasa 
and  plans  are  under  way  for  other  union  hostels  where  they  are  required. 

5.  Union  Work  in  Urban  Centers.  The  Conference  urges  a  larger  and  bolder  policy  in  dealing  with 
the  physical,  moral,  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  white  and  black  population  at  Stanley  Pool;  there  should 
be  counter  attractions  to  the  drinking  saloons  in  the  form  of  temperance  refreshments,  educational  lectures, 
concerts,  reading-rooms,  and  games. 

6.  Conference  Secretary  and  Mission  News.  Voted  that  the  Conference  should  assist  the  financial 
support  of  a  secretary  so  that  he  may  devote  more  time  to  the  general  business  of  the  Conference  and 
to  the  publication  of  the  Mission  News,  which  has  exerted  such  helpful  influence  in  the  past. 

7.  Joint  Agency  at  Brussels.  The  Conference  expressed  strong  interest  in  the  organization  of  an 
agency  in  Brussels  so  that  the  mission  societies  may  know  the  wishes  of  the  Belgian  Government  and 
cooperate  as  effectively  as  possible. 

The  intermissionary  activities  proposed  by  the  Congo  Conference  present  a  program 
of  cooperation  that  should  be  seriously  considered  in  every  part  of  Africa.  It  is 
neither  possible  nor  necessary  to  enumerate  the  various  forms  of  cooperation  that 
may  be  developed  in  different  colonies.  It  may  be  helpful  to  mention  a  few  other 
forms  for  the  consideration  of  home  boards  and  missionaries  on  the  field.  Among 
these  are  recreational  centers,  located  in  healthful  areas,  for  the  missionaries  and  for 
the  instruction  of  their  children;  union  purchasing  agencies;  and  union  river  boats. 
Healthful  centers  for  missionary  vacations  and  for  the  education  of  children  are 
especially  needed  for  those  who  are  working  in  tropical  areas.  Such  centers 
may  sometimes  be  found  on  the  highlands  nearby.  Other  forms  of  cooperation 
would  provide  for  systems  of  accounting  and  records  and  for  expert  assistance  in 
the  planning  of  buildings  and  the  layout  of  station  grounds.  Possibly  the  most 
important  form  of  union  effort  would  be  effective  cooperation  for  the  development  of 


94 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Christian  work  in  siicli  urban  centers  as  Freetown,  Accra,  Lagos,  Matadi,  Elisaheth- 
ville,  and  Johannesburg.  I'here  are  at  least  three  centers  in  the  areas  visited  in 
Africa  which  seem  to  the  Commission  to  call  emphatically  for  cooperation  to  deal  with 
the  unusual  conditions  confronting  Cliristian  missions.  The  first  two  of  these  are  the 
great  masses  of  Natives  assembled  at  the  mines  of  Elisabethville,  Belgian  Congo,  and  at 
Johannesburg,  South  Africa.  The  third  is  in  northeastern  Nigeria,  where  there  is  a 
demand  for  a  teacher-training  center  that  shall  become  a  stronghold  for  the  dissemi- 
nation of  Christian  ideals  where  Mohammedanism  is  impending.  The  colonial 
chapters  describe  these  centers  and  the  forms  of  cooperation  required. 

General  Cooperation 

The  interdependence  of  government,  missions,  conunercial  and  industrial  con- 
cerns, and  Natives  has  been  presented  in  the  earlier  portions  of  this  chapter.  Refer- 
ence has  been  made  to  the  various  combinations  of  these  elements  in  cooperative 
activities.  The  education  and  the  civilization  of  the  Native  may  be  advanced  by  any 
form  of  cooperation.  Some  of  these  forms  as  they  have  been  tried  in  some  of  the 
colonies  are  of  such  significance  as  to  merit  comment. 

Government  Executive  Council 

In  the  British  colonies,  the  government  has  won  the  cooperation  of  the  Natives 
and  business  concerns  through  the  organization  of  executive  councils,  in  which  the 
government  officers  have  united  with  the  representatives  of  commerce  and  of  the 
Native  people  to  consider  the  legislative  requirements  of  the  colony.  Even  though 
these  councils  do  not  have  administrative  authority,  they  have  decided  influence 
in  the  formulation  of  the  laws  and  the  policies  of  the  government.  The  inclusion 
of  missionaries  in  these  councils  would  make  them  more  completely  representative. 

Native  Council 

Another  form  of  government  recognition  of  the  Native  point  of  view  is  the  Native 
Council  or  Bhunga  of  the  Transkeian  territories  in  South  Africa.  This  organization 
is  described  at  length  in  the  chapter  on  South  Africa.  It  is  a  unique  organization 
with  some  features  of  self-government  that  colonial  authorities  might  well  consider 
as  an  intermediate  step  toward  larger  recognition  of  Native  participation. 

Congo  Commission  for  the  Protection  of  Natives 

The  Congo  Commission  for  the  Protection  of  Natives,  appointed  by  the  King  of 
Belgium,  is  composed  of  the  representatives  of  the  government,  commercial  con- 
cerns, and  missions.  The  organization  has  been  effective  in  the  elimination  of  mis- 
understandings and  in  the  development  of  friendly  relations  among  the  European 
groups.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  progress  of  the  Native  people  will  make  possible 
the  inclusion  of  some  of  their  representatives  on  this  important  commission.  Other 
colonies  may  well  follow  the  example  of  the  Belgian  Government  by  forming  similar 
commissions.   In  the  British  colonies  the  purposes  of  the  organization  of  the  commis- 


COOPERATION  FOR  EDUCATION 


95 


sion  are  very  largely  realized  through  the  executive  councils.  The  Natal  Missionary 
Board  of  Advice,  which  includes  missionaries  and  the  education-il  representatives  of 
the  province,  has  some  of  the  features  of  the  Congo  commission.  Its  influence  on 
education  is  much  greater  than  that  of  the  commission  or  the  executive  councils. 

Provision  for  Native  Leaders 

It  seems  most  important  that  the  state  shall  give  every  encouragement  to  Native 
rulers  and  those  who  through  industry,  thrift,  and  cooperative  spirit  have  advanced 
and  won  the  respect  of  Native  and  European  peojjle.  The  treatment  and  manage- 
ment of  Natives  seems  now  to  be  left  either  to  the  chance  attitude  of  the  European 
or  to  old  traditions,  the  chief  idea  being  to  "keep  the  Native  in  his  place."  This  too 
often  means  getting  the  most  out  of  the  Native  at  the  least  possible  cost  to  the 
European.  Sound  development  of  the  Native  requires  the  thoughtful  action  of  all  who 
are  dealing  with  him.  Possibly  the  most  vital  principle  in  this  method  of  development 
is  that  the  best  interest  of  the  European  is  involved  in  the  best  interest  of  the  Native. 
To  fail  to  make  proper  provision  for  these  worthy  Natives  is  to  refuse  to  make  allies 
of  them  in  the  great  work  of  improving  the  colony  and  its  people.  Some  Europeans 
seem  even  to  resent  the  presence  of  such  individuals.  We  believe  that  the  true  test  of 
culture  and  civilization  is  in  the  willingness  to  recognize  the  ability  of  a  member  of 
another  race  to  share  in  the  consideration  of  conditions  that  pertain  to  the  life  in  the 
colonies. 

Interracial  Committees* 

Interracial  committees  constitute  a  form  of  cooperation  that  is  possible  where 
Native  leaders  of  influence  are  found.  Both  in  South  Africa  and  in  America  the 
organizations  have  been  potent  in  developing  harmony  between  the  races.  With 
the  advancement  of  the  Native  people  in  African  colonies,  it  will  be  possible  to  multi- 
ply these  committees.  It  is  probable  that  the  effective  organization  of  tribes  now  in 
existence  in  many  parts  of  Africa  will  make  possible  similar  committees  adapted  to 
the  local  conditions  in  all  the  colonies. 

The  misunderstandings  between  the  white  and  Negro  groups  in  the  southern 
states  of  America  are  in  some  respects  quite  significant  for  those  who  must  deal  with 
racial  problems  in  Africa  and  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  In  these  states  there  are 
nine  million  Negroes  living  among  twenty-four  million  white  people,  ^\^lile  the 
percentage  of  Negroes  in  the  southern  states  amounts  to  less  than  30  per  cent  of  the 
total  population,  the  actual  proportions  in  different  counties  vary  from  5  to  90  per 
cent.  Many  serious  errors  have  been  committed  in  the  contacts  of  the  faces,  and 
many  injustices  and  unfortunate  conditions  still  exist.  Under  the  leadership  of  white 
and  Negro  leaders,  who  believe  in  cooperation,  interracial  conditions  are  improving, 
and  the  Negro  race  has  made  remarkable  progress  in  everj'  direction.  The  following 
statement  prepared  by  representatives  of  the  white  groups  in  the  southern  states 
presents  the  spirit  and  methods  now  being  urged  for  the  improvement  of  race  rela- 
tionships : 

*See  also  the  chapter  on  South  Africa. 


96  EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 

The  University  Race  Commission  in  its  last  letter  to  the  college  students  of  the  South  called  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  college  men  are  expected  to  assist  in  moulding  public  opinion  and  to  cooperate  in 
all  sane  efforts  to  bring  about  a  more  tolerant  spirit,  more  generous  sympathy,  and  larger  measure  of  good- 
will and  understanding  between  the  best  elements  of  both  races. 

In  this  letter  the  Commission  wishes  to  call  attention  to  the  progress  made  in  the  last  few  years  in 
interracial  cooperation.  Already  there  are  agencies  at  work  developing  such  cooperation  in  local  com- 
munities throughout  the  southern  states.  Noteworthy  in  this  connection  is  the  establishment  of  more 
than  eight  hundred  county  interracial  committees  in  the  southern  states,  as  a  result  of  the  efforts  of  the 
Commission  on  Interracial  Cooperation,  organized  in  1919  by  representative  southern  men  and  women, 
with  its  headquarters  in  Atlanta.  This  is  a  practical  method  of  putting  into  service  the  leadership  of  both 
races.  Sane,  thoughtful  men,  who  love  truth  and  justice,  can  meet  together  and  discuss  problems  in- 
volving points  of  even  strong  disagreement  and  arrive  at  a  common  understanding,  if  only  they  remember 
to  look  for  the  next  best  thing  to  do  rather  than  attempt  to  determine  for  all  time  any  set  of  fixed  policies 
or  lay  down  an  inclusive  program  for  the  future.  The  most  fruitful  forms  of  cooperation  have  been  found 
in  connection  with  such  vital  community  problems  as  better  schools,  good  roads,  more  healthful  living, 
and  more  satisfactory  business  relations.  In  all  these  community  efforts  the  good  of  both  races  is  in- 
separably involved. 

No  fact  is  more  clearly  established  by  history  than  that  hatred  and  force  only  complicate  race  rela- 
tions. The  alternative  to  this  is  counsel  and  cooperation  among  men  of  character  and  good-will,  and, 
above  all,  of  intelligent  and  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  racial  problem.  The  number  of  those  who 
possess  specific  knowledge  upon  which  to  base  intelligent  thinking  and,  ultimately,  wise  action  is  still 
too  small.  There  is  great  need,  therefore,  that  facts  now  available  concerning  the  advancement  of  the 
Negro  race  in  education,  in  professional  accomplishment,  in  economic  independence  and  in  character, 
be  studied  by  thoughtful  students  in  our  colleges.  Such  facts  as  are  definitely  established  could  well  be 
made,  as  has  already  been  done  in  some  institutions,  the  basis  of  instruction  in  race  conditions  and  relations 
as  a  part  o'f  a  regular  course  in  social  science.  This  body  of  information  would  undoubtedly  allay  race 
antagonism  and  would  serve  as  a  foundation  for  tolerant  attitude  and  intelligent  action  in  every  direction 
of  interracial  cooperation. 


Chapter  VI 


SIERRA  LEONE 

The  important  facts  concerning  education  in  Sierra  Leone  are,  first,  that  the  schools 
are  almost  all  in  Freetown  and  vicinity,  an  area  of  300  square  miles  containing  a 
population  of  about  63,000  people,  largely  to  the  neglect  of  the  Protectorate,  with  an 
area  of  30,000  square  miles  and  a  population  of  a  million  and  a  third;  second,  that  the 
schools  found  in  the  Freetown  area  are,  with  few  exceptions,  unrelated  to  the  educa- 
tional needs  of  the  masses  of  the  people;  and  third,  that  the  beginnings  of  education  in 
the  Protectorate  are  more  definitely  related  in  type  to  the  hygienic,  economic,  and 
community  needs  of  the  Native  people.  Appreciation  of  these  educational  conclusions 
presupposes  a  knowledge  of  the  Native  people,  the  country,  and  the  European  organi- 
zations working  in  this  British  area.  Part  I  of  this  chapter  is  therefore  devoted  to  the 
economic  and  sociological  backgrounds  of  education.  Part  II  presents  the  educational 
activities,  and  Part  III  is  the  summary  and  recommendations. 

I.    ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIOLOGICAL  BACKGROUND 

Sierra  Leone  is  one  of  the  smaller  British  colonies  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa, 
located  approximately  in  the  latitude  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  With  French  Guinea 
to  the  north,  and  Liberia  to  the  south,  it  occupies  the  southerly  part  of  the  North 
African  continent,  jutting  out  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Historically,  it  holds  a  position 
of  peculiar  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  West  Coast.  Its  area  of  30,000  square  miles 
equals  that  of  South  Carolina  or  Scotland.  Its  population  of  a  million  and  a  third 
is  approximately  the  same  as  that  of  South  Carolina  and  one-fourth  that  of  Scotland. 
Fewer  than  a  thousand  of  the  population  are  white,  a  negligible  proportion  in  number 
but  all-powerful  in  direction  and  control. 

The  confusing  use  of  the  terms  "Colony,"  "Colony  proper,"  "Protectorate"  and 
"Sierra  Leone"  makes  it  necessary  to  define  these  areas  at  the  outset. 

(1)  Sierra  Leone,  as  it  appears  on  a  map  of  Africa,  includes  both  the  coastal  area  and  the  Protectorate. 
In  this  sense  writers  refer  to  the  whole  area  as  the  Colony  of  Sierra  Leone. 

(2)  The  Colony,  officially,  is  an  area  of  4,000  square  miles,  extending  along  the  coast  180  miles  and  inland 
from  8  to  20  miles.  Much  of  this  area  is  as  uncultivated  and  primitive  as  the  inland  Protectorate. 

(3)  The  "Colony  proper"  is  a  peninsula  of  300  square  miles,  12  miles  broad  and  26  miles  long.  This  is 
the  historical  "Colony"  and  includes  the  city  of  Freetown,  a  number  of  village  groups,  and  a  rural  area. 

(4)  The  Protectorate  is  a  large  undeveloped  area  of  27,000  square  miles,  extending  inland  about  200 
miles. 

Educationally,  the  important  areas  to  be  described  are  Freetown,  with  its  peninsula 
environment,  and  the  Protectorate.  What,  then,  are  the  economic,  hygienic,  and 
human  elements  to  which  educational  organization  and  efforts  must  be  directed  in 
these  two  areas  ? 


98 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Freetown  and  the  Peninsula 

THE  The  total  area  embraced  in  Freetown  and  the  peninsula  has  a  population  of 

PEOPLE  63,000  people,  of  whom  40,000  are  in  the  city  of  Freetown  and  the  adjoining 
urban  units  known  as  Kissy  and  Wilberforce.  The  remaining  23,000  are  in 
the  Waterloo,  or  Headquarters  area,  a  semiurban  group  about  20  miles  away,  and  in 
several  scattered  villages.  Of  the  63,000  in  the  area,  30,000  are  variously  known  as 
"Creoles"  or  "Liberated  Africans  and  their  Descendants."  The  majority  of  these  are 
the  descendants  of  emancipated  slaves  who  were  captured  in  various  parts  of  Africa, 
but  chiefly  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lagos,  Nigeria,  inhabited  by  the  Yoruba  tribe. 
They  were  taken  from  slave  ships  on  their  way  to  America  by  British  war  vessels  and 
landed  at  Freetown.  The  uneducated  Creoles  speak  a  strange  corruption  of  language 
known  as  "Pidgin  English."  jNIembers  of  the  educated  class  speak  English  with  the 
accent  and  accuracy  of  well-educated  English  people.  They  are  an  interesting  social 
group  who  have  exerted  considerable  influence  in  the  affairs  of  practically  every  colony 
on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa.  They  have  supplied  more  than  their  proportion  of  pro- 
fessional men,  not  only  for  Sierra  Leone,  but  for  other  colonies.  The  large  majority  of 
those  trained  in  the  schools  have  occupied  various  grades  of  clerical  positions. 

Recent  censuses  have  shown  heavy  decreases  in  the  Creole  population.  The 
following  comments  of  the  British  census  experts  on  this  matter  are  very  significant  in 
the  evaluation  of  educational  policies  in  Sierra  Leone : 

The  registration  returns  show  that  the  deaths  exceed  the  births,  but  the  system  of  registration  of  births 
and  deaths  is  imperfect,  and  there  is  notliing  to  show  that  there  is  heavier  mortality  among  the  Creoles  than 
the  rest  of  the  population. 

Assuming  that  the  race  is  not  dying  out,  but  that  its  reduced  numbers  are  due  to  emigration  elsewhere, 
one  thing  is  certain,  viz.,  that,  although  the  colony  has  progressed  commercially  in  the  last  ten  years, 
economic  circumstances  appear  to  be  against  the  Creoles,  and  many  are  compelled  to  go  elsewhere  to  earn  a 
livelihood,  and,  as  the  general  population  has  not  declined,  it  is  clear  that  their  places  are  being  filled 
by  others. 

In  1909  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the  colonies  appointed  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  subject  of 
emigration  from  India  to  the  crown  colonies  and  protectorate.  From  the  report  made  by  that  committee, 
one  feature  is  brought  out  very  clearly,  and  that  is  that  in  many  West  Indian  and  other  colonies,  where  there 
is  a  considerable  Native  population,  whether  indigenous  or  Creole,  who  show  a  disinclination  for  agricultural 
labor,  thus  rendering  the  importation  of  immigrant  labor  an  absolute  necessity,  that  indigenous  or  Creole 
population  has  shown  a  tendency  to  diminish  in  numbers  or  to  remain  stationary,  or  perhaps  to  increase 
very  slowly. 

In  this  colony  we  have  a  Creole  population  who  show  a  marked  aversion  to  tilling  the  soil;  we  have  also 
a  considerable  aboriginal  population  invading  the  colony  from  the  Protectorate  as  the  Census  Report  of  1901 
and  the  table  of  birth-places  in  this  report  will  show,  and  settling  upon  and  cultivating  land  once  occupied 
by  Creoles.  It  is  suggested  that  much  the  same  process  is  going  on  in  this  colony  as  is  going  on  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  and  that  the  principle  to  be  deduced  appears  to  be  that  when  a  nationality  declines  to 
cultivate  the  earth,  the  first  industry  of  life,  that  nationality  has  a  tendency  to  decrease. 

In  striking  contrast  with  the  decrease  of  the  Creoles,  the  census  shows  the  remark- 
able increase  of  the  Tenmes,  Mendes,  and  Sherbros,  the  three  great  Native  peoples  of 
the  Protectorate.  According  to  the  official  census  these  virile  peoples  are  increasing  in 
the  old  colony  area  at  the  rate  of  50  per  cent  in  ten-year  periods.  This  means  that  there 


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SIERRA  LEONE,  BRITISH  WEST  AFRICA 

Educational  facilities  for  this  colony  are  largely  confined  to  Freetown  and  vicinity,  an  area  of  300  square  miles. 
There  are  comparatively  few  schools  in  the  Protectorate,  with  an  area  of  30,000  square  miles  and  a  population 
of  a  million  and  a  third. 


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100 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


is  a  strong  tide  of  immigration  from  the  Protectorate  to  the  Freetown  peninsula.  The 
latest  available  figures  indicate  the  total  number  of  persons  born  in  the  Protectorate 
who  are  now  in  the  coast  colony  to  be  over  26,000.  Over  half  of  this  number  are  in 
Freetown  and  its  immediate  environment,  and  8,000  constitute  a  liberal  third  of  the 
23,000  in  the  Waterloo  or  Headquarters  district.  These  facts  should  be  seriously 
considered  by  those  in  charge  of  educational  policies  in  the  colony. 

The  non-African  racial  groups  of  the  population  are  statistically  almost  negligible. 
Those  of  European  origin  are  about  650  and  of  Asiatic  origin  202.*  Both  groups  have 
shown  marked  increase,  but  they  are  not  sufficiently  numerous  to  give  rise  to  any 
difficult  educational  problem. 

The  vital  statistics  for  the  colony  are  very  important,  not  only  as  a  measure  of  the 
vitality  of  the  people,  but  also  as  an  indication  of  the  hygienic  conditions  of  life,  in- 
cluding housing,  food,  and  the  chances  of  earning  a  livelihood.  The  registration  of 
births  and  deaths  for  1920  in  the  colony  shows  that  the  births  were  20  per  thousand  and 
the  deaths  27  per  thousand.  With  liberal  allowances  for  errors  of  registration,  these 
rates  present  a  very  unfortunate  condition  of  the  vitality  of  the  population  groups.  In 
normal  American  or  European  communities  the  death  rate  varies  from  12  to  17  or  18 
per  thousand.  The  excess  of  deaths  over  births  and  the  high  death-rate  in  the  colony 
should  arouse  the  interest  of  every  individual  and  agency  responsible  for  the  welfare 
of  the  Native  peoples. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  important  to  explain  that  the  above  discussion  refers  to  the 
Native  population.  It  would  be  most  unfortunate  to  give  the  impression  that  these 
health  conditions  cannot  be  improved.  The  vital  statistics  of  Europeans  and  educated 
Natives  who  observe  the  hygienic  rules  of  tropical  countries  prove  conclusively  the 
preventable  character  of  the  diseases  that  have  caused  such  havoc  among  the  un- 
educated Natives.  The  absence  of  mosquitoes  and  the  high  standard  of  sanitation  in 
Freetown  and  the  colony  further  support  the  emphatic  conclusion  of  the  Commission 
that  the  description  of  this  region  as  the  "white  man's  grave"  is  at  present  a  gross 
exaggeration,  whatever  it  may  have  been  in  the  past. 

The  census  classification  of  the  people  according  to  occupations  is  a  valuable  index 
of  the  educational  needs  of  the  people.  The  following  facts  from  the  latest  available 
census  are  significant:  Traders  and  hawkers,  13,625,  of  whom  1,936  were  men  and 
11,689  were  women;  farmers,  farm-laborers,  and  market  gardeners,  12,661,  of  whom 
9,189  were  men  and  3,472  were  women;  grumettas,  laborers,  and  house-servants,  7,246, 
of  whom  6,475  were  men  and  771  were  women;  mechanics  and  handicraftsmen,  5,239, 
of  whom  3,642  were  men  and  1,597  were  women;  fishermen  and  native  seamen,  2,764,  of 
whom  2,661  were  men  and  103  were  women;  colonial  government  officers,  chiefly 
clerks,  1,085,  of  whom  1,043  were  men  and  42  were  women. 

The  comments  of  the  census  expert  on  some  of  these  occupations  are  very  enlighten- 
ing: 

Traders  and  hawkers  show  an  increase  of  615.  Besides  street  hawkers  this  heading  includes  shop- 
keepers, and  judging  by  the  appearance  of  the  streets  and  the  smallness  and  large  numbers  of  the  shops,  it  is 
evident  that  the  transactions  of  the  majority  of  traders  and  hawkers  must  be  confined  within  very  narrow 

*The  Census  of  1921,  not  yet  available,  shows  a  considerable  increase  of  bothEuropeanand  Asiatic  people . 
Even  with  the  increases,  they  are  statistically  unimportant. 

HENRY  &  EMIIY  BUCHER 
320  UTHROP  ST. 
ICADtSOli  WIS.  53705 
TEL  608-238^115 


KiKUYU  Women,  ELenya  Colony 


SIERRA  LEONE 


101 


limits.  Owing  to  the  great  competition  in  tnuie,  tlie  practice  has  grown  up  within  recent  years  of  merchants 
and  shopkeepers  employing  people  to  sell  goods  for  them  on  commission,  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  with  many 
people,  shopkeeping  and  hawking  afford  an  unenergetic  form  of  obtaining  a  livelihood  and  are  but  an  excuse 
for  leading  an  idle  life. 

Farmers,  farm  laborers,  and  market  gardeners.  Under  tliis  heading  there  is  a  notable  increase  of  1,014. 
The  increase  occurs  chiefly  in  the  Madonkia  district,  where  there  is  a  considerable  increase  of  population, 
and  it  is  an  indication  that  a  vigorous  race  from  the  Protectorate  is  settling  in  that  part  of  the  colony  and 
turning  its  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  a  thing  which  the  economic  interests  of  the  colony  loudly 
demand. 

One  of  the  most  definite  measures  of  progress  in  a  community  is  house  construction. 
The  British  census  presents  the  following  interesting  summary  of  building  in  the 
colony : 

In  the  Report  of  the  Census  of  1901  comment  was  made  on  the  decrease  in  wattle  houses  and  the  large 
increase  in  frame  houses,  and  it  was  stated  that  the  tendency  during  the  last  two  decades  had  been  to  build 
more  commodious  houses.  This  tendency  has  been  fully  maintained  during  the  last  decade,  with  the  result 
that  frame  houses  have  risen  from  7,520  in  1901  to  9,514  in  1911,  and  wattle  houses  have  decreased  from 
7,249  in  1901  to  6,530  in  1911.  A  noticeable  feature  also  is  the  great  increase  in  stone  houses.  The  total 
increase  dtf  houses  amounts  to  1,428,  and  this  is  the  more  remarkable  as  no  great  increase  of  population  has 
occurred,  and  it  points  to  the  fact  that  advancing  civilization  has  produced  a  demand  for  better  houses,  and 
that  fewer  people  should  live  in  them. 

Possibly  the  most  significant  fact  of  all  is  that  the  increase  is  almost  entirely  in 
Freetown  and  Port  Sherbro.  Freetown  added  1,496  frame  and  135  stone  residences  and 
decreased  the  number  of  its  wattle  houses  by  236.  Port  Sherbro  added  207  wattle, 
130  frame,  and  14  stone  houses.  These  statistics  reveal  a  very  decided  concentration 
of  substantial  interest  in  Freetown. 

THE  For  the  purposes  of  this  study  it  is  not  necessary  to  describe  the  physical 

COUNTRY  features  of  the  180  miles  of  coast  officially  known  as  "The  Colony."  The 
significant  area  educationally  is  the  peninsula,  including  Freetown  and  its 
environment,  extending  inland  about  20  miles.  The  physical  importance  of  this  area 
is  in  the  fact  that  the  African  coast  at  this  point  offers  a  splendid  harbor,  combined  with 
highlands  almost  mountainous  in  dimension.  Even  a  casual  examination  of  a  map  of 
Africa  shows  how  very  infrequently  is  the  coast  line  broken  by  friendly  inlets.  After 
passing  Port  Sherbro,  another  harbor  within  the  colony,  ocean  liners  must  travel  over  a 
thousand  miles  to  Lagos,  Nigeria,  where  at  great  expense  the  British  Government  has 
made  a  harbor.  In  Liberia  and  the  Gold  Coast  and  other  points  passengers,  baggage, 
and  freight  must  be  placed  ashore  in  surf  boats,  a  process  that  is  expensive,  difficult, 
and  dangerous.  It  is  little  wonder,  then,  that  Freetown  was  long  ago  recognized  as  one 
of  the  strategic  points  in  West  Africa. 

Not  only  has  Freetown  commercial  possibilities  that  have  scarcely  been  touched, 
but  the  harbor  and  its  mountain  background  are  very  beautiful.  The  traveler  coming 
to  Africa  for  the  first  time  is  most  pleasantly  surprised  by  the  view  of  Freetown  and  its 
substantial  buildings  attractively  arranged  along  the  curved  shore  of  the  harbor. 
With  artistic  symmetry  the  city  extends  upward  toward  the  base  of  the  mountainous 
hills  covered  with  green  trees.  Here  and  there  amid  the  trees  may  be  seen  houses 


102 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


of  Europeans  eager  to  enjoy  the  breezes  away  from  the  rush  of  the  city  on  the  lower 
levels.  Some  of  the  heights  are  being  systematically  developed  as  residential  sections. 
This  elevation  above  the  sea  level  and  especially  above  swampy  areas  so  frequent  in 
Africa  is  of  very  great  value  in  providing  favorable  sanitary  and  climatic  conditions. 

Though  the  colony  is  in  the  tropics,  ranging  from  seven  to  ten  degrees  North  lati- 
tude, the  climate  is  by  no  means  intolerable.  Sea  breezes,  varying  elevations  of  land, 
and  change  of  seasons  afford  much  relief.  The  wet  season  extends  from  May  to  Octo- 
ber, with  highest  rainfall  and  coolest  weather  in  July  and  August.  The  driest  months, 
as  well  as  the  time  of  greatest  heat,  are  January,  February,  and  March.  The  average 
maximum  temperature  is  88  degrees  and  the  average  minimum  72  degrees.  The  high- 
est recorded  temperature  is  101  degrees,  the  lowest  60  degrees.  While  these  tempera- 
tures do  not  seem  excessive,  the  fact  that  the  sun  is  directly  overhead  makes  it  neces- 
sary to  wear  a  helmet  of  cork  or  some  other  thick  non-conductor.  Even  five  minutes 
of  exposure  to  the  sun  may  result  in  sunstroke  or  other  serious  difficulty.  With  rea- 
sonable precautions,  now  well  known,  the  dangers  from  heat  and  rain  may  be  almost 
entirely  eliminated.  , 

The  soil  possibilities  in  Freetown  and  its  immediate  environment  are  limited  by  the 
urban  requirements  for  buildings  and  streets  and  also  by  the  hilly  contour  of  the  sec- 
tion. There  is,  however,  land  for  gardens  even  within  the  city  limits.  The  peninsula 
has  ample  soil  capable  of  producing  vegetables  and  fruits  far  beyond  the  present  sup- 
ply.  Particularly  is  this  true  of  the  valley  lands  around  the  village  of  Regent. 

The  production  of  animals  for  food  and  power  is  in  a  most  lamentable  condition. 
As  in  almost  every  part  of  Africa,  the  most  important  animals  for  food  purposes  that 
can  be  raised  by  the  Native  people  are  chickens,  sheep,  and  goats.  Bullocks  are 
brought  down  to  the  seaports  from  the  highlands  in  the  interior.  The  very  inadequate 
supply  of  all  these  animals  is  indicated  by  the  high  prices,  almost  prohibitive  to  the 
masses  of  the  Natives.  Strong  as  the  demand  is  for  meat,  there  is  very  little  done 
to  increase  the  supply. 

The  Protectorate 

THE  The  population  of  the  Protectorate  is  variously  estimated  at  from  a  million 

PEOPLE  to  a  million  and  a  half.  The  estimates  are  mad,e  by  government  officials 
on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  houses,  which  are  counted  with  considerable 
care  for  purposes  of  taxation.  It  is  fairly  certain  that  the  population  is  well  over  a 
milUon  Natives.  In  addition,  the  last  available  census*  reports  a  non-Native  popula- 
tion of  3,500.  This  group  includes  170  Europeans,  100  Asiatics,  3,000  Sierra  Leone 
Creoles,  and  others  of  African  origin. 

In  comparison  with  the  75,000t  people  in  the  "Colony  proper,"  it  is  evident  that 
the  million  and  a  third  Native  people  in  the  Protectorate  present  problems  that  are  at 
least  numerically  far  more  important.  Their  importance  is  further  emphasized  by 
their  vital  relation  to  this  part  of  Africa  as  the  original  people  of  the  country,  their 
virility,  their  plastic  and  even  expectant  state  of  mind,  and  by  their  general  promise 
on  the  basis  of  reports  received  and  results  observed  in  the  training  process  to  which 
they  have  been  subjected  by  government,  merchant,  and  missionary.  In  contrast, 
*See  page  100. 

tColonial  Office  List  for  1921. 


SIERRA  LEONE 


103 


the  coast  groups  are  more  or  less  foreigners  to  the  section,  even  though  they  are  of 
African  stock. 

It  is  not  easy  to  convey  an  accurate  idea  of  the  state  of  development  of  the  interior 

groups  to  those  who  have  not  been  in  Africa.  In  some  respects  they  fulfill  the  usual 
conception  of  primitive  or  even  barbarous  peoples.  The  least  significant  of  these  respects 
is  their  scant  clothing.  Others  are  their  tribal  system  of  government,  their  belief  in 
the  witchery  of  their  medicine-man,  and  their  enslavement  to  many  forms  of  supersti- 
tion. In  other  respects  these  Natives  show  remarkable  capacity  for  developing  as 
civilized  people.  Even  within  a  few  years  the  forces  of  civilization  have  brought  a 
considerable  number  of  them  to  a  status  equal  to  that  of  the  most  capable  American 
Negroes. 

The  most  authoritative  source  of  information  concerning  the  present  condition  of 
the  masses  of  these  Natives  is  the  British  census.  According  to  this  census  there  are 
seventeen  tribes,  divided  into  two  general  groups  on  the  basis  of  their  origin.  One 
group,  occupying  the  southern  portion  of  the  Protectorate,  are  the  aborigines  of  this 
section  and  include  the  Mendes  and  related  Lokkos  and  Krims,  500,000;  Sherbros  and 
Bulloms,  150,000;  and  the  Veis,  a  small  tribe  extending  into  Liberia.  These  tribes 
are  as  yet  largely  pagan.  Neither  the  Christian  nor  the  Mohammedan  religion  has 
made  much  progress.  The  following  comments  from  the  census  on  these  tribes  are 
interesting : 

Mendes  are  the  most  numerous  tribe  in  the  Protectorate  and  the  most  warlike,  and  when  roused  show 
great  ferocity,  as  was  made  evident  during  the  Rebellion  of  1898.  They  settle  in  the  Colony  in  considerable 
numbers  as  agriculturists  and  laborers.  ...  Of  the  Mendes  and  Konnohs  practically  all  adults  are  farmers 
or  farm  laborers.  There  are  a  few  Native  blacksmiths,  carpenters,  and  traders.  No  reliable  statistics  could 
be  got  of  the  numbers  of  those  engaged  in  occupations  other  than  agriculture.  .  .  .  The  Mendes  and 
Konnohs  are  for  the  most  part  pagans,  the  religion  being  a  form  of  ancestor  worship. 

Lokkos  are  a  branch  of  the  Mende  tribe;  many  of  them  are  settled  in  the  Headquarters  District  and  are 
occupied  in  farming.  Although  pagan,  it  is  said  that  the  western  portion  of  the  tribe  are  coming  under 
Mohammedan  influence. 

Krims  are  also  a  branch  of  the  Mende  tribe  and  are  pagan. 

Gallinas  or  Veis  come  from  that  part  of  the  country  that  lies  between  Sherbro  and  the  Liberian  boundary, 
and  they  also  inhabit  Western  Liberia,  and  by  some  are  supposed  to  be  related  to  the  Mendes.  This  tribe 
presents  the  unique  feature  of  possessing  a  Native  form  of  writing  of  their  own,  which  was  invented  in  the 
first  half  of  the  last  century  by  one  of  their  own  people  and  is  largely  used  by  them. 

The  second  group  of  tribes  occupy  the  northern  half  of  the  Protectorate.  They  are 
invading  tribes  and  Mohammedans  from  French  Guinea  and  northward.  The  most 
numerous  tribe  of  the  group  is  the  Temne,  350,000,  now  reported  as  60  per  cent  Mo- 
hammedan. The  Limbas,  110,000,  are  almost  entirely  pagan.  The  other  tribes, 
though  comparatively  few  in  numbers,  include  the  Foulahs,  11,500,  and  the  Man- 
dingos,  13,000,  who  are  most  zealous  Mohammedans  and  responsible  for  the  spread  of 
that  religion  in  West  Africa.  The  census  observations  on  these  tribes  are  presented 
herewith : 

Foulahs  are  a  seminomadic  and  pastoral  people.  They  inhabit  large  districts  in  the  Western  Soudan. 
Although  they  are  few  in  numbers  in  the  Protectorate,  to  them  and  to  the  Mandingos  is  due  the  spread  of 
Mohammedanism  in  West  Africa.  At  a  remote  period  they  are  supposed  to  have  been  calf-worshippers. 


104 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Mandingos — This  tribe  belongs  to  French  Guinea,  Senegal,  Northern  Liberia,  and  the  Ivory  Coast. 
They  were  originally  pagans,  but  most  of  them  are  now  zealous  Mohammedans. 

The  most  definite  and  accurate  census  statistics  are  those  on  the  number  of 
houses.  The  total  number  reported  for  the  Protectorate  was  204,938.  The  term 
"house"  in  this  case  is  necessarily  very  different  in  meaning  from  that  in  coast  cities 
or  civilized  communities.  The  usual  Native  house  has  walls  made  of  mud  plastered  on 
stripped  tree  branches.  The  roof  is  covered  with  grasses,  the  leaves  of  palms,  or  bam- 
boo. Houses  vary  in  size  and  number  of  rooms,  but  the  large  majority  are  small,  low 
huts  with  no  windows  or  outlet  for  smoke.  For  warmth  a  fire  is  made  on  the  floor  in 
the  center  of  the  dark  room.  The  cooking  is  done  outside  or  under  a  shelter  near  the 
house.  These  houses  are  assembled  in  villages  connected  by  African  paths  through  the 
forests  or  along  the  plains.  The  sparsity  of  population  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
there  are  only  about  ten  houses  to  a  square  mile.  The  census  estimates  about  six  or 
seven  persons  to  each  house. 

Unfortunately,  there  are  no  vital  statistics  for  the  people  of  the  Protectorate.  It  is 
well  known,  however,  that  the  Natives  suffer  from  numerous  diseases,  the  chief  of 
which  are  venereal  diseases,  malaria,  black-water  fever,  hookworm,  elephantiasis, 
and  diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs.  The  infant  mortality  is  shockingly  high,  being 
upwards  of  300  per  thousand  as  against  75  to  100  in  a  normal  European  or  American 
community.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  death  rate  in  the  Protectorate 
is  abnormally  high.  As  yet  the  government  measures  for  the  improvement  of  sanitary 
conditions  have  only  begun  to  influence  the  masses  in  the  Protectorate.  The  medicine- 
man with  his  superstition  and  dirt  still  holds  sway  in  many  parts.  Mothers  are  ignor- 
ant of  the  simple  but  vital  health  measures  necessary  to  protect  their  children.  Milk 
and  proper  food  for  children  are  very  difficult  to  obtain. 

THE  The  physical  resources  of  the  Protectorate  have  not  been  satisfactorily 

COUNTRY     studied.   For  the  purposes  of  this  Report,  it  is  necessary  only  to  point  to 
the  great  stretches  of  tillable  land  arranged  in  a  semicircle  with  a 
radius  of  150  miles  and  over,  with  Freetown  as  the  center.  This  area  of  approximately 
27,000  square  miles  is  described  in  the  official  reports  as  follows : 

The  configuration  of  the  Protectorate  varies  much  in  different  localities.  The  parts  on  the  banks  of  the 
rivers  are  low  and  swampy,  while  away  from  the  rivers  the  country  consists  of  low  rolling  downs,  with  here 
and  there  a  range  of  hills  some  3,000  feet  in  height.  Unlike  many  regions  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa,  the 
country  is  for  the  most  part  well  watered  by  rivers  and  running  streams.  The  principal  rivers  which  empty 
themselves  into  the  Atlantic  on  the  Sierra  Leone  Coast  are  the  Great  and  Little  Skarcies,  the  Sierra  Leone 
or  Rokell,  the  Sherbro,  the  Jong,  the  Manneh  or  Mano,  the  Ribbi,  Bum,  Kittam,  and  Moa,  most  of  which 
are  navigable  for  several  miles. 

To  the  observer  traveling  inland  by  boat  or  train,  the  agricultural  possibilities 
of  the  country  appear  remarkable.  The  land  is  heavily  covered  with  tropical  vege- 
tion.  Only  a  small  proportion  of  it  seems  to  be  under  any  kind  of  cultivation. 
The  method  of  farming  seems  to  be  little  more  than  the  scratching  of  the  surface  in  a 
manner  often  destructive  of  the  best  possibilities  of  the  land.  The  general  appear- 


SIERRA  LEONE 


105 


ance  of  the  soil  and  its  products  indicates  that  it  could  be  made  to  produce  a  wealth 
of  cereals,  vegetables,  fruit,  and  cotton.  Sufficient  number  of  cattle  may  be  seen  to 
suggest  that  more  animal  life  could  be  maintained — a  result  that  would  not  only 
supply  meat  but  also  contribute  a  vital  factor  for  the  development  of  the  soil.  In  some 
respects  the  value  of  such  small  animals  as  chickens,  goats,  sheep,  and  swine  is  far 
greater  than  that  of  the  larger  animals  requiring  more  capital  investment  and  greater 
knowledge.  The  contrast  of  the  promising  agricultural  possibilities  of  the  Protectorate, 
with  the  practically  negligible  efforts  to  teach  the  Natives  how  to  develop  these  pos- 
sibilities, gives  rise  to  a  depressing  view  of  educational  activities,  both  in  the  colony 
and  in  the  Protectorate.  The  disappointment  is  deepened  by  the  thought  that  the 
agricultural  results  would  be  by  no  means  limited  to  economic  gains.  Effective  agricul- 
ture would  mean  not  only  a  food  supply,  but  an  income  to  provide  both  the  decencies 
of  life  and  opportunity  for  education,  and  most  of  all  a  healthful  activity  to  upbuild 
the  physique  and  minds  of  the  Natives. 

European  Organizations 

The  influence  of  European  organizations  has  until  within  the  past  few  years  been 
very  largely  limited  to  Freetown  and  the  small  area  of  the  "colony  proper."  Within 
the  twenty-five  years  of  British  control  of  the  Protectorate,  government,  commerce, 
and  missions  have  gradually  extended  their  influence  into  the  interior.  In  view  of  the 
small  areas  compared  with  other  colonies,  the  development  of  the  Protectorate  has  not 
seemed  equal  to  that  of  other  British  colonies  in  West  Africa.  This  is  probably  ex- 
plained in  part  by  the  marked  difference  between  the  Freetown  area  and  the  Protec- 
torate, both  as  regards  the  character  of  the  country  and  the  population  elements. 
There  is  now  evidence  of  increased  interest  in  the  Protectorate.  Governor  Wilkinson 
was  notable  not  only  for  his  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  the  interior  people  and 
country,  but  also  for  his  unusual  grasp  of  the  economic  and  educational  adaptations 
required  to  realize  their  development.  Governor  Slater,  recently  appointed  to  succeed 
Governor  Wilkinson,  whose  term  of  service  terminates  in  1922,  is  an  oflicer  of  long 
experience  and  unusual  ability.  His  genuine  interest  in  the  sound  educational  develop- 
ment of  the  Native  people  is  well  known. 

The  government  of  the  colony  consists  of  the  Governor,  who  is  commander-in- 
chief,  aided  by  an  Executive  Council  composed  of  four  officials  and  the  officer  in  com- 
mand of  troops.  There  is  also  a  Legislative  Council,  of  which  the  Governor  is  ex-officio 
president.  This  Council  includes  the  members  of  the  Executive  Council,  the  Prin- 
cipal Medical  Ofiicer,  Senior  District  Commissioner,  and  four  unofficial  members  nomi- 
nated by  the  Crown.  Representatives  of  commercial  organizations  and  prominent 
Natives  are  among  the  unofficial  group.  The  Governor  of  the  colony  is  also  the  chief 
executive  officer  of  the  Protectorate.  The  Legislative  Council  has  passed  ordinances 
authorizing  the  Governor  to  exercise  and  carry  out  the  powers  required  by  the  Crown 
over  the  Protectorate. 

The  significant  departments  of  government  from  the  point  of  view  of  this  Report 
are  those  of  Education,  Medicine,  Sanitation,  Agriculture,  Forestry,  Public  Works, 


106 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


and  Railways.  It  is  not  possible  within  the  limits  of  this  Report  to  describe  even  those 
governmental  activities  that  are  definitely  civilizing  and  educational  in  significance. 
While  the  departments  enumerated  are  not  extensive  in  personnel  or  equipment,  they 
are  commendably  strong  in  the  type  and  character  of  most  of  the  officials.  The  follow- 
ing statistics  from  the  Blue  Book  for  1918  give  some  idea  of  the  government  expendi- 


tures for  the  improvement  of  Sierra  Leone: 

Total  Government  Expenditures  £544,011 

I.  Education,  agriculture,  health,  etc   £72,843 

Education,  £18,123;  medical  and  sanitary,  £45,032; 
agriculture  and  forestry,  £9,188. 

II.  Territorial  administration   82,055 

Governor,  commissioners,  courts,  etc. 

III.  Military,  police,  prisons   59,557 

Military,  £38,515;  police,  £10,845;  prisons,  £10,197. 

IV.  Public  works,  railroads,  posts,  telegraph,  etc   203,210 

Railways,  £142,424;  highways,  £12,816;  telegraph 
and  telephone,  £11,832. 


The  items  have  here  been  arranged  in  the  order  of  their  relation  to  the  development 
of  the  people  and  the  physical  resources.  The  expenditures  of  the  first  group,  including 
education,  health,  and  agriculture,  constitute  about  13  per  cent  of  the  total  budget. 
The  £18,000  for  education  is  less  than  4  per  cent  of  all  expenditures.  The  health  de- 
partment has  practically  eliminated  mosquitoes  from  Freetown  and  is  now  inaugurat- 
ing health  improvements  in  both  colony  and  Protectorate.  In  1918,  there  were  90,000 
people  vaccinated.  The  agricultural  department  includes  a  director,  two  European 
assistants,  and  the  superintendent  of  the  experimental  farm. 

The  second  group  of  expenditures  comprise  those  for  government  administration 
and  courts.  These  include  the  salaries  and  expenses  of  the  Governor,  the  district 
commissioners,  the  court  officials,  and  the  Native  chiefs  presiding  over  Native  cases. 
The  influence  of  these  relationships  on  primitive  peoples  is  decidedly  educational. 

The  third  group  are  the  expenses  of  the  police  and  the  military.  Fortunately, 
they  are  less  than  those  for  education,  health,  and  agricultiu-e.  Granting  all  the  un- 
desirable elements  of  the  military  and  the  police,  they  are  necessary.  Among  undevel- 
oped people,  the  Native  police  and  soldiery  have  educational  opportunities. 

The  fourth  group  are  primarily  for  the  economic  development  of  the  country. 
They  constitute  almost  half  of  the  total  expenditures.  The  activities  not  only  provide 
physical  developments,  such  as  roads,  railroads,  telegraph,  and  telephones  that  are 
necessary  to  civilization,  but  they  also  provide  opportunity  for  the  Natives  to  acquire 
mechanical  skill.  Among  the  significant  results  are  350  miles  of  railroad,  600  miles  of 
road,  and  1,100  miles  of  telegraph  and  telephone. 

It  is  practically  impossible  to  measure  the  influence  of  commercial  concerns  on  the 
life  of  the  Natives.  The  old  relationship  of  merchants  and  missionaries  was  too  fre- 
quently that  of  indifference,  disapproval,  suspicion,  or  hostility.  There  is  still  evidence 
of  these  various  attitudes  on  the  part  of  some  merchants  and  missionaries  toward  each 


SIERRA  LEONE 


107 


other.  It  is  probable  that  in  tlie  past  there  was  considerable  justification  for  the  feel- 
ing on  both  sides.  Even  to  this  day  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  some  members 
of  the  two  groups  fail  to  understand  each  other.  As  one  wise  old  missionary  said, 
"there  is  enough  difference  in  manner  of  life"  to  account  for  much  of  the  divergence  be- 
tween them.  But  the  time  has  come  when  both  merchants  and  missionaries  should  try 
to  understand  one  another  so  they  may  develop  a  helpful  cooperation  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Native  people.  It  is  generally  recognized  that  sound  business  principles 
require  that  the  people  among  whom  trade  is  transacted  shall  be  given  every  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  in  every  possible  way.  It  is  equally  sound  in  missionary  effort  to  in- 
sist that  commerce  and  industry  shall  be  encouraged  by  every  means. 

The  Education  Commission  has  been  impressed  by  the  activities  of  the  large  com- 
mercial concerns  not  only  in  Freetown,  but  also  along  the  railways,  rivers,  and  high- 
ways of  the  Protectorate.  At  most  of  the  larger  centers,  Europeans  are  in  charge  of  the 
more  important  administrative  activities.  An  increasing  number  of  Natives  are  em- 
ployed in  various  capacities.  Their  training  under  these  conditions  contributes  very 
directly  and  effectively  to  their  education.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  number  of  Na- 
tives who  develop  under  this  system  so  that  they  are  able  to  start  businesses  of  their 
own.  The  value  of  commercial  activities  lies  both  in  providing  modern  agencies  for 
the  encouragement  of  production  and  sale  and  also  in  training  the  Natives  in  modern 
business  methods.  The  extent  and  character  of  these  commercial  activities  can  be  indi- 
cated only  by  the  summaries  of  imports  and  exports  and  tonnage  of  vessels  in  foreign 
trade.  The  imports  for  1919  were:  Cotton  manufacture,  £461,098;  coal,  £164,171; 
spirits,  £60,940;  tobacco,  £244,755;  kerosene  oil,  £40,778.  The  exports  have  been 
shown  in  the  statements  concerning  the  resources  of  the  country.  Exports  were: 
Ginger,  £31,110,  or  1,069  tons;  palm  kernels,  £1,191,607,  or  50,622  tons;  palm  oil, 
£115,515,  or  828,750  gallons;  kola  nuts,  £417,378.  The  total  tonnage  of  vessels  cleared 
in  foreign  trade  m  1919  was  2,016,699. 

With  full  appreciation  of  the  contribution  made  by  commercial  concerns  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  colony,  it  seems  certain  that  these  concerns  have  not  recognized  their  respon- 
sibilities either  in  the  nature  or  scope  of  their  activities.  In  a  conference  with  the 
Freetown  Chamber  of  Commerce  it  was  brought  out  clearly  that  there  was  not  a  suffi- 
cient recognition  of  the  value  of  education  in  the  agricultural,  commercial,  and  indus- 
trial development  of  the  country.  The  chief  educational  interest  of  the  members 
seemed  to  be  the  preparation  of  clerks  for  their  offices.  Many  of  them  seemed 
to  have  come  from  England,  France,  and  other  European  countries  to  accumulate 
money  and  to  return  home  to  enjoy  life.  The  home  offices  are  beginning  to  realize 
that  their  permanent  and  real  success  in  Africa  demands  that  the  Natives  shall  be 
educated  for  economic  production  and  citizenship,  including  the  essentials  of  character. 

II.  EDUCATION 

School  activities  are  maintained  by  the  government  and  by  missions.  The  place 
of  the  missions  in  education  is  so  large  as  to  require  some  measure  of  their  member- 


108 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


slii])  in  the  colony  and  in  the  Protectorate.  According  to  the  Government  Blue  Book 
for  1918,  the  average  attendance  at  tlieir  churches  was  as  follows: 

Church  of  Enghmd,  S),li23  in  the  Colony  and  570  in  the  Protectorate;  Wesleyan  Methodist,  8,089  Colony 
and  ,560  Protectorate;  United  Methodist,  2,185  Colony  and  250  Protectorate;  Roman  Catholic,  1,266  Colony 
and  850  Protectorate;  Countess  of  Huntington's  Connexion,  1,655  Colony;  United  Brethren,  1,105  Colony 
and  595  Protectorate;  African  Methodist,  560  Colony  and  490  Protectorate;  Mohammedan,  1,266  Colony 
and  nuniher  not  known  for  the  Protectorate.  In  addition,  religious  and  educational  activities  are  main- 
tained by  the  American  AVesleyans,  the  Seventh  Day  Adventists,  the  Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance, 
and  two  or  three  other  smaller  organizations. 

According  to  the  census  of  1911  it  appears  that  the  Anglican  and  Wesleyan  member- 
ship decreased  between  1901  and  1911 ;  that  of  the  United  Methodist,  United  Brethren 
and  Roman  Catholic  increased;  and  the  Mohammedan  membership  showed  a  decided 
increase.  The  total  average  church  attendance  is  about  25,000  for  the  Colony  and 
3,000  to  5,000  for  the  Protectorate.  These  figures  show  a  decided  centralization  of 
religious  work  in  the  comparatively  small  area  of  Freetown  and  an  almost  negligible 
activity  in  the  Protectorate. 

It  has  not  been  possible  to  obtain  statistics  of  school  expenditures  or  attendance 
records  of  sufficient  accuracy  or  uniformity  to  constitute  a  basis  of  comparison  of 
educational  activities  maintained  by  different  missions.  It  is  possible,  however,  to 
describe  the  work  of  government  and  missions  in  terms  that  indicate  somewhat  the 
quantitative  and  qualitative  needs  of  the  educational  system.  The  report  of  the 
Government  Director  of  Education  illustrates  the  type  of  statistical  information  avail- 
able in  the  official  figures  which  he  transmits  and  the  liberal  estimates  which 
he  adds. 

According  to  the  Director,  the  total  number  of  schools  in  1919  was  181  and  the 
enrollment  was  12,000.  In  his  opinion  the  accurate  figures  are  more  nearly  250  schools 
and  the  enrollment  18,000  pupils.  A  comparison  of  either  12,000  or  18,000  enrollment 
with  300,000  children,  a  conservative  estimate  of  the  children  of  school  age,  shows  that 
with  either  enrollment  the  percentage  of  children  at  school  is  lamentably  small.  The 
division  of  this  enrollment  between  the  Colony  and  the  Protectorate  presents  another 
enlightening  comparison.  It  is  estimated  that  about  9,000  of  the  total  enrollment  are 
in  the  Colony  and  the  remaining  9,000  are  in  the  Protectorate.  In  other  words  the 
Colony,  with  a  school  population  of  about  13,000,  has  9,000  in  school,  whereas  the 
Protectorate,  with  nearly  300,000  children,  has  only  9,000  in  any  kind  of  school. 
Comparison  of  types  of  schools  in  both  areas  will  show  other  foi'ms  of  neglect  of  the 
Protectorate,  as  well  as  the  character  of  the  educational  methods  in  the  Colony. 

Freetown  and  the  Peninsula 

The  area  included  in  Freetown  and  the  peninsula  contains  Fourah  Bay  College, 
seven  schools  classified  as  secondary,  the  Government  Model  School,  and  two  small 
technical  schools.  There  are  also  97  elementary  schools  of  various  grades  and  con- 
dition. The  total  expenditure  for  current  expenses  of  these  schools  is  nearly  £25,000; 


SIERRA  LEONE 


109 


Of  this,  £7,000  is  contributed  by  the  government;  £6,500  is  paid  in  fees  by  the  pupils. 
£5,500  is  from  vohintary  contributions,  partly  from  the  Native  churches;  and  about 
£5,000  conies  from  American  and  European  mission  boards.  The  significance  of  these 
figures  can  be  understood  only  by  a  consideration  of  the  activities  of  the  schools 
themselves. 

Fourah  Bay  College 

Fourah  Bay  College  is  a  well-managed  institution  of  college  grade  with  strong 
classical  emphasis.  It  is  owned  and  managed  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  In 
1917  this  Society  "entered  into  formal  compact  with  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society 
by  virtue  of  which  the  two  Societies  agreed  to  cooperate  in  the  work,  support,  and 
control  of  the  college."  The  following  quotation  from  the  publication  of  the  college 
indicates  the  interest  and  aims  of  the  institution: 

The  course  is  adapted  to  the  preparation  for  the  University  of  Durham's  Arts  course  in  theology  and 
classics,  English,  Latin,  and  Greek.  The  school  has  been  affiliated  with  Durham  University  since  1876.  Of 
the  548  pupils,  about  half  have  taken  a  University  Degree.  In  1920  the  course  for  Durham's  modern  B.A. 
superseded  the  old  course  in  litieris  antiquis. 

Three  years  of  residence  are  now  required  instead  of  two,  a  modicum  of  science  is  now  essential,  Greek 
is  no  longer  compulsory,  the  standard  is  raised  in  every  direction,  and  Fourah  Bay  is  doing  its  little  best  to 
fulfill  both  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  these  new  demands  of  a  new  age. 

All  candidates  for  entrance  will  be  required  to  satisfy  the  examiners  in  six  subjects,  namely:  Latin, 
Greek,  mathematics,  English,  religious  knowledge  or  ancient  history,  English  history  or  physical  and  general 
geography.  At  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  residence  they  must  pass  the  intermediate  examination.  This 
consists  of  five  subjects  (two  of  these  must  be  foreign  languages),  chosen  from  the  following  groups:  1. 
Latin;  2.  Greek,  English;  3.  English,  French,  German,  Hebrew,  mathematics,  logic;  4.  Religious  knowledge, 
ancient  history,  modern  history,  economics;  5.  Hellenistic  Greek,  or  any  of  the  above  subjects  not  already 
offered. 

Second  Year  Examination — Candidates  must  satisfy  the  examiners  in  five  subjects,  one  being  an 
ancient  language:  1.  Religious  knowledge  or  Hellenistic  Greek;  2.  Greek,  English;  3.  Latin,  French,  German, 
Hebrew;  4  and  5.  Two  of  the  following:  Modern  history,  ancient  history,  economics,  education  or  military 
science,  mathematics,  philosophy  or  any  of  the  above  subjects  not  already  offered. 

Third  Year  and  Final  Examination — Candidates  must  satisfy  the  examiners  in  four  of  the  subjects 
offered  in  the  second  year.  The  subjects  previously  offered  under  2  and  3  must  be  included. 

The  Calendar  describes  the  requirement  for  the  M.A.  and  degrees  in  theology  and 
law.  It  is  reported  that  a  Native  African  has  given  the  institution  sufficient  funds  to 
found  a  professorship  in  physical  science  in  1926.  Another  African  has  supplemented 
this  gift  so  that  the  teaching  of  the  subject  may  be  begun  in  1923. 

The  teaching  staff  includes  the  European  principal  and  vice-principal  and  four 
Native  tutors.  All  are  men  of  high  academic  attainments,  but  almost  entirely  limited 
to  classics  and  theology. 

The  students  in  1919  were  22  young  African  men  from  Sierra  Leone  and  other  parts 
of  British  West  Africa.  About  half  the  students  board  at  the  college. 

The  plant  consists  of  a  college  hall  built  of  red  laterite,  a  wooden  structure  used  as 
chapel,  and  nine  acres  of  land.  It  occupies  a  beautiful  site  overlooking  the  harbor. 
The  financial  support  of  the  institution  is  very  limited  and  uncertain. 


110 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Church  Missionary  Society  Grammar  School  for  Young  Men 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  Grammar  School  for  Young  Men  prepares  students 
for  Cambridge  local  examinations  and  for  Fourah  Bay  College  with  some  instruction 
for  civil  and  mercantile  services. 

The  eight  years'  course  includes  the  following  subjects:  Greek,  21  units  a  week,* 
beginning  with  the  second  year  and  extending  through  the  seven  years;  Latin,  19  units 
through  eight  years;  mathematics,  51  units,  including  geometry  12,  arithmetic  26  and 
algebra  13;  Scripture,  35  through  eight  years;  English  grammar  and  composition,  40 
units  through  eight  years;  history,  14  units;  geography,  19  units;  English  literature, 
14  units;  hygiene,  5  units,  one  period  a  week  during  the  first  five  years. 

The  nine  teachers  are  Native  African  men,  well-educated  in  classical  literature  and 
theology.  The  pupils  number  160  Native  young  men,  of  whom  31  are  boarders  and  129 
are  day  pupils.  The  plant  is  in  serious  need  of  repairs.  There  are  no  facilities  for 
scientific,  manual,  or  industrial  departments.  The  dormitory  and  boarding  accommo- 
dations are  not  comparable  with  the  standards  of  literary  education  offered. 

The  income  is  entirely  from  fees  for  tuition  and  board. 

Wesleyan  Boys'  High  School 

The  Wesleyan  Boys'  High  School  prepares  Native  young  men  for  Cambridge  local 
examinations  and  Fourah  Bay  College,  with  some  instruction  for  civil  and  mercantile 
services.  The  institution  is  owned  by  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Missionary  Society. 

The  nine  years'  course  includes  the  following  subjects:  Greek,  13  units  a  week, 
extending  through  the  last  four  years;  Latin,  25  units,  extending  through  seven  years; 
mathematics,  88  units,  including  arithmetic  51  units,  extending  through  nine  years, 
algebra  19  units  through  seven  years,  geometry  17  units  through  seven  years;  English, 
72  units  through  nine  years;  geography,  27  units  through  nine  years;  Scripture  and 
catechism,  27,  through  nine  years;  French,  8,  through  four  years;  hygiene,  8,  through 
four  years. 

The  teachers  are  nine  African  men,  well-educated  in  classical  literature  and 
theology.  The  pupils  number  169  Native  young  men,  of  whom  31  are  boarders  and  138 
are  day  pupils.  The  school  plant  was  recently  erected  at  a  cost  of  £11,000.  The  annual 
expenditures  are  practically  all  covered  by  fees  for  tuition  and  board  from  the  pupils. 

Albert  Academy  for  Young  Men 

Albert  Academy  for  Young  Men  is  a  well-managed  institution  earnestly  endeavor- 
ing to  adapt  its  activities  to  the  educational  needs  of  both  Freetown  and  the  Pro- 
tectorate. The  school  offers  a  four-years'  secondary  course  to  Native  young  men,  with 
choice  of  emphasis  in  science,  business,  or  classics.  There  are  also  four  classes  of 
elementary  grade  as  preparation  for  the  secondary  classes  or  for  government  certificate. 
Courses  in  manual  training  are  taught,  both  with  skill  and  real  regard  for  their  broad 
educational  value.  The  school  is  owned  by  the  United  Brethren  Church  of  America. 

The  science  course  includes:  Science,  16  units;  mathematics,  12;  English,  12; 

*A  unit  is  one  period  a  week  for  one  year. 


SIERRA  LEONE 


111 


Bible,  16;  manual  training,  8;  history,  7;  Native  language,  4;  psychology  and  pedagogy, 
2;  ethics,  2;  political  economy,  1.  The  classical  course  includes:  Bible,  16;  mathe- 
matics, 12;  Latin,  11;  English,  10;  Greek,  8;  manual  training,  8;  science,  4;  history,  4; 
Native  language,  4;  political  economy,  1.  The  business  course  resembles  the  science 
curriculum  with  a  substitution  of  business  for  science. 

The  faculty  consists  of  three  American  men,  six  Native  men  and  one  Native  woman. 
They  have  been  carefully  selected  on  the  basis  of  fitness  for  their  teaching  work.  The 
pupils  number  92  young  men,  of  whom  51  are  boarders  and  41  day  pupils.  The  plant 
consists  of  a  large  concrete-block  building  valued  at  £3,500,  a  shop  of  cement  and 
expanded  metal  valued  at  £500,  and  shop  equipment  valued  at  £650.  The  institution 
is  delightfully  located  at  the  base  of  the  high  hills  in  the  suburbs  of  Freetown.  The 
total  annual  expenditure  is  about  £2,500,  of  which  £1,500  is  received  from  the  United 
Brethren  Board. 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Seminary 

A  small  school  endeavoring  to  offer  instruction  of  elementary  and  secondary  grade. 
It  is  reported  to  have  91  boys  and  young  men  and  expenditures  amounting  to  £300  a 
year,  of  which  £160  is  from  the  Mission  Board,  £60  from  the  government,  and  £80  from 
fees  from  tuition. 

United  Methodist  Collegiate  School 

A  small  school  offering  instruction  of  elementary  and  secondary  grade.  It  is 
reported  to  have  77  boys  and  young  men,  of  whom  12  are  boarders  and  65  day  pupils. 
The  total  expenditures  are  £430,  of  which  £320  is  covered  by  fees  from  pupils,  £64 
comes  from  the  government,  and  £46  is  from  other  sources. 

Annie  Walsh  Memorial  School 

A  school  for  Native  young  women.  "The  schoolwork  throughout  leads  to  Junior 
Cambridge  standard.  The  course  of  study  includes  reading,  writing,  arithmetic, 
English,  literature,  history,  English  composition,  geography,  French,  Scripture,  draw- 
ing and  music.  Provision  is  made  for  handwork  in  the  lower  classes  and  needlework  in 
the  upper  classes.  Boarders  learn  housewifery  in  all  branches."  The  institution  is 
owned  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 

The  teaching  force  consists  of  16  women,  three  of  whom  are  Europeans,  and  13 
Native  Africans.  The  pupils  number  227,  of  whom  59  are  boarders  and  168  day  pupils. 
The  plant  consists  of  a  two-story  building  of  stone  with  corrugated  iron  roof,  a  dwelling 
house,  and  four  dormitories  of  stone  with  iron  roof.  There  are  also  a  kitchen  garden, 
playgrounds,  and  flower  garden.  The  arrangement  of  grounds  and  buildings  is  attrac- 
tive. The  annual  expenditures  are  all  covered  by  fees  for  board  and  tuition. 

Wesleyan  Girls  High  School 

A  school  for  Native  young  women.  The  course  includes  the  usual  subjects  of  the 
elementary  grades,  together  with  English  literature,  English  history,  vocal  and  instru- 


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mental  music,  drawing,  hygiene,  cookery,  needlework.  Scripture  and  catechism.  The 
institution  is  owned  by  the  Wesleyan  Mission  Board.  The  teachers  are  three  European 
women  and  ten  Native  Africans.  The  pupils  number  117,  of  whom  27  are  boarders. 
A  new  plant  is  in  process  of  erection  in  the  suburbs  of  Freetown. 

Diocesan  Technical  School 

A  small  school  giving  limited  instruction  in  technical  activities.  The  number  of 
pupils  is  only  nine.  The  school  was  founded  by  a  Bishop  of  the  Anglican  church.  The 
purpose  of  the  school  is  commendable,  but  its  present  condition  as  regards  equipment, 
teachers,  and  pupils  does  not  give  promise  for  the  future. 

Government  Industrial  School 

A  small  school,  offering  industrial  training  to  about  twelve  Native  boys.  It  is 
partly  maintained  out  of  funds  provided  by  the  executors  of  the  estate  of  the  late  Sir 
Alfred  Jones.  Its  work  and  influence  are  very  limited. 

Roman  Catholic  Schools 

In  addition  to  their  instruction  in  elementary  subjects  and  religion,  the  Roman 
Catholic  schools  offer  some  industrial  training. 

Seventh  Day  Adventist  School  at  Waterloo 

A  small  school  of  simple  organization,  stressing  the  educational  value  of  industry. 

Government  Model  School 

A  well-equipped  and  effectively  managed  school,  offering  ten  years  of  instruction 
beginning  with  the  infant  classes  and  continuing  through  two  years  of  secondary 
subjects.  Provision  is  made  for  the  religious  instruction  of  Christian  and  Mohammedan 
pupils  in  their  respective  creeds.  The  course  also  includes  some  training  in  methods  of 
teaching,  woodwork,  and  domestic  economy. 

The  head-master  and  directress  of  the  infant  department  are  Europeans.  The  13 
teachers  are  Native  African  men.  The  average  attendance  is  244,  of  whom  186  are 
boys  and  58  girls.  The  plant  is  substantial  and  attractive.  The  type  of  architecture 
is  suitable  in  form  and  appearance  to  the  tropical  character  of  the  country.  The 
expenditures  for  1918  are  £2,350,  of  which  £2,200  was  appropriated  by  the  government. 

Elementary  Schools 

The  total  number  of  elementary  schools  in  the  colony  proper  is  97,  with  an  average 
attendance  of  about  6,000  children.  Of  this  number  53  schools,  with  an  attendance  of 
about  4,000  pupils,  are  in  Freeto^t^n,  and  34  schools,  with  an  attendance  of  1,200,  in  the 
Waterloo  or  Headquarters  district.  The  large  number  of  small  schools  is  explained  by 
the  Director  of  Education  as  due  to  the  fact  that  "every  village  and  community  is 
inspired  by  a  parochial  patriotism  depending  on  creed,"  with  the  result  that  small 


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villages  often  have  two  to  seven  scliools.  "The  result,"  the  director  adds,  "I  leave  to 
your  imagination,  which  I  think  will  be  more  charitable  than  the  facts."  The  teachers 
in  many  of  these  little  schools  receive  a  beggarly  compensation  and  the  educational 
work  is  very  often  correspondingly  poor  and  ineffective.  Since  the  visit  of  the  Com- 
mission the  government  has  taken  over  a  number  of  these  little  schools.  Some  of  them 
have  been  closed;  others  have  been  assigned  special  classes,  so  that  their  teaching  is  not 
scattered  over  all  the  elementary  standards,  and  the  status  of  the  teachers  is  being 
improved  by  selection,  supervision,  and  better  compensation. 

The  curriculum  and  supervision  of  the  elementary  schools  assisted  by  the  govern- 
ment follow  closely  the  English  method.  The  obl  gatory  subjects  are  English,  arith- 
metic, geography  and  one  period  a  week  of  hygiene  and  sanitation.  The  optional 
courses  are  handwork,  historical  geography,  and  object  lessons.  Through  the  inspec- 
tion system,  for  which  English  education  is  deservingly  noted,  these  schools  are  com- 
pelled to  maintain  real  standards  of  attainment  in  the  subjects  of  the  curriculum.  The 
unfortunate  element  in  the  situation  is  that  the  same  curriculum  is  used  in  both  urban 
and  rural  schools.  Very  little  change  is  made  either  in  the  subjects  of  the  curriculum 
or  in  the  content  of  the  subjects  for  the  varied  conditions  of  a  coast  city  and  those  of 
rural  communities  with  people  almost  primitive  in  manner  of  life.  The  bad  effect  of 
this  uniformity  is  observed  not  only  in  the  rural  schools  of  the  small  peninsula,  but  also 
throughout  the  great  Protectorate,  with  its  large  population.  Even  the  Freetown 
elementary  schools  fail  to  make  adequate  use  of  the  optional  subjects,  so  important  for 
the  preparation  of  their  pupils  for  real  service  in  the  city. 

Mohammedan  Schools 

The  following  statement  from  the  government  report  concerning  Mohammedan 
schools  is  significant: 

There  are  five  Mohammedan  schools  or  Madrasas  for  boys  and  girls;  the  roll  number  was  641,  and  the 
average  attendance  368,  as  compared  with  690  and  426  in  the  previous  year.  Over  a  third  of  the  children 
belong  to  the  Protectorate  tribes.  The  subjects  taught  are  English,  Arabic,  arithmetic,  geography,  hygiene 
and  sanitation,  drawing  and  handwork.  Fees  are  charged  at  one  school  only.  The  Mohammedan  community 
continue  to  show  their  appreciation  of  the  advantages  afforded  by  the  government.  Though  the  government 
pays  the  fees  of  99  per  cent  of  the  teaching  staff,  they,  nevertheless,  contributed  £380  during  the  year 
towards  their  school  fund,  as  compared  with  £212  in  the  previous  year. 

The  Madrasa  Islamia  is  approaching  completion,  and  is  estimated  to  have  cost  nearly  £700,  and  the 
Madrasa  Umaria  expects  in  the  next  year  to  be  housed  in  a  new  building,  90  per  cent  of  the  expenses  of  which 
will  be  incurred  by  the  Mohammedan  community  at  the  village  of  Aberdeen. 

The  work  observed  in  Mohammedan  schools  in  different  parts  of  Africa  has  always 
seemed  to  be  much  more  that  of  rote  religion  than  instruction. 

The  Protectorate 

While  the  school  facilities  in  the  Protectorate  are  negligible  in  quantity,  there  are 
three  insti  utions  whose  organization  and  methods  are  definitely  related  to  the  educa- 
tional needs  of  the  Native  population.   These  institutions  are  the  Moyamba  Girls 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


School,  the  Bo  School  for  Sons  and  Nominees  of  Chiefs,  and  the  Njala  Agricultural 
Training  School.  In  addition  to  these  three  important  and  effective  institutions,  the 
government  and  mission  societies  maintain  a  number  of  schools,  varying  from  simple 
"bush"  schools  with  one  Native  teacher  of  very  limited  training  to  small  boarding 
schools  with  European  supervision.  According  to  the  government  report  for  1918,  there 
were  54  government-aided  elementary  schools,  of  which  38  were  graded  as  "elemen- 
tary," six  as  "intermediate,"  and  the  remaining  as  "on  probation."  The  total  grant- 
in-aid  to  these  schools  was  £796  and  the  number  of  pupils  1,078.  The  curriculum  of 
these  schools  is  reported  to  be  the  same  as  in  the  colony  proper. 

Moyamha  Girls  School 

The  Moyamba  Girls  School  is  an  excellent  institution  for  the  training  of  Native 
girls,  probably  the  most  successful  of  Sierra  Leone  in  relating  its  activities  to  the  needs 
of  Native  women.  The  institution  is  owned  by  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the 
United  Brethren  Church. 

The  academic  course  covers  six  standards,  or  nine  American  grades.  Industrial 
training  is  provided  in  all  grades.  The  cooking  is  taught  in  a  Native  kitchen  with  all 
possible  regard  for  Native  methods  and  Native  food.  Laundering  methods  are  based 
upon  the  best  features  of  modern  and  Native  ways.  In  dressmaking  classes  the  students 
select  the  garments  found  most  suitable  for  the  climate.  Problems  of  home  nursing 
and  community  life  are  worked  out  in  the  village  homes.  Effort  is  made  to  teach  all 
how  to  sing  and  to  lead  others  to  sing.  In  the  ninth  year  the  pupils  are  prepared  in 
simple  methods  of  teaching.  Most  important  of  all  is  the  plan  of  using  all  the  home 
activities  of  the  school  for  the  training  of  the  girls. 

The  teaching  force  consists  of  four  American  women,  one  Native  woman,  and  three 
Native  men.  The  pupils  number  98,  of  whom  46  are  young  women  boarding  at  the 
school;  there  are  62  girls  and  36  boys.  The  plant  consists  of  a  residence  of  cement  block 
and  frame,  a  schoolhouse  of  cement  and  adobe,  and  several  small  buildings.  The  total 
value  of  the  plant  is  about  £2,000.  Seven  acres  of  land  are  leased  and  used  for  gardens 
and  fruit  trees.  A  substantial  school  and  dormitory  building  is  now  being  erected 
according  to  the  best  modern  plans.  The  annual  income  is  £710,  of  which  £450  is 
received  from  the  Mission  Board,  £110  from  students'  fees,  and  £85  from  the  govern- 
ment. 

Government  School  for  Sons  and  Nominees  of  Chiefs 

An  excellent  school  for  the  training  of  Native  boys  and  young  men  who  are  either 
the  sons  or  nominees  of  chiefs.  The  purpose  of  the  school  is  to  interest  Native  rulers  in 
education  and  to  improve  the  leadership  of  the  tribal  groups  through  education  related 
to  tribal  needs.  The  eight  years'  course  provides  instruction  in  the  three  R's,  and  the 
usual  English  subjects,  including  geography  and  history,  hygiene,  elementary  science, 
hand  and  eye  training,  woodwork,  citizenship,  bookkeeping,  typewriting,  and  survey- 
ing, also  agriculture  in  theory  and  practice,  and  teachers'  lessons.  The  housing,  board- 
ing, and  play  activities  of  the  students  are  all  used  for  their  training.    While  no 


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provision  is  made  for  religious  instruction,  considerable  attention  is  given  to  habits  and 
morals.  As  a  number  of  the  tribes  and  their  chiefs  are  strongly  Mohammedan,  it  is  the 
policy  of  the  school  not  only  not  to  offend  them,  but  even  to  cultivate  their  friendship. 
To  this  end  a  Mohammedan  teacher  of  Arabic  gives  his  whole  time  to  that  subject.* 

The  teaching  force  consists  of  a  European  principal  and  eight  Native  young  men. 
All  but  the  Arabic  teacher  are  ex-pupils  of  this  school.  Altogether  four  Europeans  are 
assigned  to  this  school.  Three  were  in  England  on  leave  at  the  time  of  the  visit. 

The  students  comprise  156  Native  boys  and  young  men.  Their  appearance, 
manner,  and  ability  indicate  their  relation  to  the  Native  rulers  from  whom  they  come. 
All  live  within  the  school  grounds  in  attractive  houses  incorporating  the  best  features  of 
Native  buildings.  Some  of  the  houses  are  round  and  some  are  square.  Each  house  is 
surrounded  by  a  veranda.  The  mud  walls  are  decorated  with  various  color  designs 
which  the  boys  make  from  the  neighborhood  clays.  The  interior  of  each  house  is  one 
large  room  with  beds  for  four  boys  and  a  separate  compartment  for  a  teacher.  A  vege- 
table garden  back  of  the  house  is  cultivated  by  the  boys  and  a  flower  garden  adds  beauty 
to  the  front  of  the  house.  The  produce  from  the  gardens  is  used  or  sold  by  the  boys. 

The  plant  consists  of  a  fairly  large  frame  building  used  for  headquarters  of  Euro- 
peans, administration,  and  some  school  work;  several  Native  buildings  of  mud  and 
palmetto-leaf  roof  used  for  schoolrooms;  a  compound  containing  two  streets  of 
students'  houses,  and  several  other  mud  structures.  All  of  these  buildings  are  regarded 
as  temporary.  A  new  plant  is  to  be  erected  at  a  cost  of  about  £25,000.  About  20  acres 
are  used  as  kitchen  gardens,  flower  gardens,  and  play  fields.  The  annual  expenditures 
are  about  £7,000,  of  which  £6,000  is  received  from  the  government  and  about  £1,000 
from  fees  paid  by  the  chiefs. 

The  Njala  Agricultural  Training  School 

The  Njala  Agricultural  Training  School  is  an  institution  recently  organized  by  the 
government  to  train  Native  young  men  to  be  teachers  and  workers  among  the  Natives 
of  rural  areas.  The  training  includes  instruction  in  the  three  R's  taught  in  the  ver- 
nacular, English  in  the  upper  standards,  a  practical  knowledge  of  agriculture,  and  the 
cultivation  of  habits  of  order,  thrift,  and  industry.  Every  effort  is  made  to  develop  a 
spirit  of  service  and  a  sympathetic  attitude  toward  the  Natives  and  their  customs. 
The  institution  has  been  located  next  to  the  headquarters  of  the  colonial  agricultural 
department,  so  the  teachers  and  pupils  may  profit  by  the  experiments  of  the  depart- 
ment. 

The  teaching  force  includes  a  European  principal,  a  Native  assistant  principal,  and 
Native  teachers.  The  principal  has  been  selected  for  his  practical  interest  in  rural 
education.  The  assistant  principal  is  well  known  for  his  knowledge  of  the  Native 
languages  and  for  his  interest  in  the  improvement  of  the  masses  of  the  people.  The 
pupils  number  about  50,  all  of  whom  are  boarders. 

During  these  initial  years,  when  educational  facilities  in  the  Protectorate  are 
negligible,  the  school  is  compelled  to  accept  Native  youth  with  very  Uttle  or  no  educa- 
tion. As  smaller  schools  are  multipUed,  the  standards  of  admission  will  be  raised  so  that 

*In  view  of  the  primitive  character  of  the  people  and  the  youth  of  the  pupils  the  teaching  of  Arabic  seems 
out  of  accord  with  the  wise  policy  of  the  school  to  teach  only  subjects  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  people. 


116 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


this  institution  may  be  devoted  to  the  triiining  of  selected  pupils  for  rural  service  as 
teachers,  demonstrators  of  farm  activities,  and  leaders  of  the  Native  people. 

The  plant  consists  of  a  considerable  tract  of  land,  schoolrooms  and  sleeping  quarters 
in  structures  erected  according  to  Native  methods,  and  farming  equipment.  Permanent 
and  more  substantial  buildings  will  soon  be  under  way.  So  far  as  possible  the  plant  will 
continue  to  adopt  the  best  features  of  Native  building.  The  financial  support  of  the 
school  is  entirely  from  the  government. 

United  Brethren  Schools 

The  United  Brethren  have  had  missions  in  the  Protectorate  for  many  years,  and 
their  educational  influence  is  probably  greater  than  that  of  any  other  organization  in 
this  large  area.  The  United  Brethren  schools  are  notable  not  only  for  their  number,  but 
also  for  the  sincerity  and  wisdom  of  their  efforts  to  meet  the  educational  needs  of  the 
masses  of  the  people.  The  school  system  centers  in  Albert  Academy  in  Freetown  and 
in  the  Moyamba  Girls  School  in  the  Protectorate.  There  are  five  other  schools,  three  of 
which  have  three  teachers  and  two  four  teachers.  Four  of  the  five  have  small  boarding 
departments.  The  buildings  are  all  substantial  structures  of  cement,  brick,  or  stone. 
All  are  offering  instruction  in  elementary  subjects,  industry,  and  religion.  The  society 
also  maintains  24  small  bush  schools  with  a  total  attendance  of  about  500  pupils. 

Roman  Catholic  Schools 

Six  Roman  Catholic  schools  are  reported  in  the  Protectorate.  Five  of  them  receive 
aid  from  the  government.  They  provide  some  training  in  industry.  The  Moyamba 
School  has  a  fairly  large  plant  with  considerable  land.  The  girls'  work  is  under  the 
direction  of  two  European  Sisters.  There  were  about  20  girls,  all  boarders.  The  boys' 
department  is  conducted  by  a  French  Father.  At  the  time  of  visit  the  plant  was  in  a 
dilapidated  condition  and  the  boys'  work  was  practically  discontinued. 

Native  Pastorate  of  the  Anglican  Church 

The  government  reports  16  aided  schools  owned  by  the  Native  Pastorate.  No 
details  are  available  concerning  their  work.  They  are  probably  small  schools  of  very 
local  influence.  The  Humphrey  Memorial  School,  founded  in  1915,  has  four  Native 
teachers  and  72  pupils,  of  whom  29  are  boarders;  57  are  boys  and  15  are  girls.  The 
plant  consists  of  an  elementary  schoolroom  costing  £400,  two  mission  houses,  and  a 
church.  The  curriculum  is  reported  to  include  "English,  arithmetic,  geography, 
hygiene,  handwork,  object  lessons,  agriculture,  algebra,  classics,  geometry,  Arabic, 
music,  typewriting,  religious  instruction,  practical  and  theoretical." 

United  Methodist  Society 

The  United  Methodist  Society  reports  seven  small  schools.  With  one  or  two  excep- 
tions they  are  one-teacher  schools  in  adobe  buildings.  The  Moyamba  school,  reported 
to  have  40  pupils,  had  about  25  pupils  at  the  time  of  visitation.  These  were  under  the 


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direction  of  two  Native  teacliers,  and  were  meeting  in  a  rather  dilapidated  church 
building.  A  new  cement  building  was  ncaring  completion. 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Society 

The  government  reports  seven  small  schools  under  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Society.  They  are  all  very  limited  in  equipment  and  influence. 

African  Methodist  Episcopal 

The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Society  reports  four  small  schools  convening  in 
church  buildings. 

Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance 

The  Alliance  has  located  its  three  stations  among  the  Natives  of  the  interior.  The 
plant  and  equipment  are  simple  and  very  limited,  but  the  work  is  related  to  the  needs 
of  the  people.  There  are  workers  of  American  origin  at  each  station. 

American  Wesleyan  Mission 

Two  mission  stations  with  small  boarding  schools  are  reported  by  the  American 
Wesleyan  Mission.  European  workers  are  in  charge.  The  records  indicate  generous 
financial  support  by  the  Society  and  a  sensible  school  program.  There  are  probably 
other  small  bush  schools. 

Agricultural  School  Plant 

The  Agricultural  School  Plant,  located  near  the  railroad  in  the  interior  of  the  Pro- 
tectorate, was  made  possible  by  a  Native  African  who  designated  in  his  will  that  a  part 
of  his  estate  was  to  be  used  for  the  erection  of  an  agricultural  school.  The  large  build- 
ing erected  some  years  ago  is  not  used  and  the  purposes  of  the  donor  have  not  been 
realized.  The  failure  is  reported  to  be  due  to  the  barren  character  of  the  land  and 
complications  in  the  financial  management  of  the  funds.  It  is  probable  that  lack  of 
interest  in  agricultural  education  has  also  been  a  factor. 

Mohammedan  Schools 

There  are  no  records  of  the  educational  activities  of  Mohammedans  in  the  Protec- 
torate. The  government  census  shows  the  spread  of  this  religion.  Practically  all  the 
government  schools  provide  an  opportunity  for  Mohammedan  influence  through  the 
Arabic  teacher  or  Mohammedan  religious  service.  There  are  also  assemblies  of  children 
in  many  of  the  Protectorate  communities  at  certain  times  for  learning  and  reciting 
the  Islamic  forms.  The  educational  value  of  these  mass  recitals  is  negUgible. 

III.    SUMMARY  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

The  economic  and  sociological  conditions  described  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter 
indicate  inviting  possibiHties  of  development  for  both  country  and  people.  The  educa- 
tional activities  of  government  and  missions  outUned  in  the  second  part  deserve  the 


118 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


appreciation  of  all  who  are  interested  in  Africa.  The  Freetown  peninsula  has  been 
under  British  influence  for  about  one  hundred  years.  In  this  time  the  government  and 
merchants  have  established  and  developed  such  essential  agencies  of  commerce  as 
landing  facilities,  regular  marine  connections  with  Europe  and  other  parts  of  the 
coast,  railroads  into  the  interior,  roads,  law  and  order,  sanitation,  water  supply, 
housing,  and  numerous  other  institutions.  The  Protectorate  has  been  under  British 
auspices  for  only  25  years.  Even  in  this  period  much  has  been  done  to  facilitate  the 
development  of  the  country  and  the  people  through  the  establishment  of  law  and 
order,  agricultural  experiments,  sanitary  regulation,  and  means  of  communication. 
While  it  is  evident  that  much  more  could  have  been  done,  comparison  with  other 
parts  of  Africa  is  not  unfavorable  to  British  activities  in  Sierra  Leone. 

The  results  of  mission  activities  are  in  some  respects  even  more  noteworthy  than 
those  of  the  government.  Through  their  schools  and  their  churches,  the  missions  have 
developed  a  Native  group  in  Freetown  and  the  old  colony  whose  influence  has  long 
been  felt  along  the  six  thousand  miles  of  West  African  Coast  from  Cape  Verde  to  Cape 
Town.  At  every  port  visited  on  the  West  Coast  and  at  inland  stations  wherever 
commerce  has  penetrated,  the  Commission  has  found  Sierra  Leoneans  working  as  clerks 
for  governments  and  commercial  concerns.  A  number  of  them  hold  positions  of  im- 
portance as  lawyers,  physicians,  and  ministers.  It  is  not  possible  to  describe  adequately 
the  surprising  success  of  missions  in  transforming  African  groups  into  communities 
of  individuals  whose  manner  of  hfe  resembles  that  of  the  British  in  so  many 
respects. 

It  seems  clear  that  the  best  form  of  appreciation  for  these  achievements  is  in  a 
sympathetic  but  frank  expression  of  recommendations  for  changes  and  enlargements 
that  the  future  may  be  worthy  of  the  sacrifice  so  freely  made  in  the  past.  In  the 
formulation  of  these  recommendations  the  effort  has  been  to  state  the  implications  of 
the  facts  outlined  in  the  first  and  second  parts  of  this  chapter.  In  general,  it  seems 
quite  certain  that  a  comparison  of  the  economic  and  sociological  conditions  of  Freetown 
and  the  Protectorate  with  the  educational  facilities  in  those  areas  shows  that  these 
facilities  are  inadequate  in  quantity  and  largely  unsuited  to  the  effective  development 
of  the  Native  people.  More  definitely  the  main  lines  of  the  recommendations  are  as 
follows : 

1.  That  the  educational  system  of  Sierra  Leone  be  reorganized  for  the  education  of 
the  masses  of  the  people  and  for  the  preparation  of  African  leaders  to  work  for  and  with 
the  masses. 

2.  That  the  school  system  be  extended  as  rapidly  as  possible,  so  that  the  hygienic, 
economic,  and  community  influences  of  education  may  include  the  300,000  youth  of 
school  age  in  the  Protectorate,  only  a  negligible  proportion  of  whom  are  now  in  school. 
Even  in  the  Colony  proper  with  an  enrollment  of  9,000  youth,  there  are  4,000  youth  of 
school  age  out  of  school. 

3.  That  an  effective  system  of  supervision  be  provided  for  the  small  schools  of  the 
Protectorate.  The  supervision  should  not  be  merely  inspection,  but  should  involve  an 


SIERRA  LEONE 


119 


advisory  and  even  inspirational  relationship  resembling  that  of  the  Jeanes  Fund 
supervising  teachers  described  elsewhere.* 

4.  That  the  government  agricultural  department  be  given  funds,  facilities,  and 
personnel  to  distribute  the  results  of  experimentation  among  the  masses  of  small 
farmers  who  most  need  guidance  and  encouragement.  Special  emphasis  should  be  given 
to  propaganda  concerning  food  crops  and  the  smaller  animals,  such  as  chickens,  sheep, 
goats,  and  swine,  furnishing  the  meat  for  the  people  and  the  income  for  farming  opera- 
tions on  a  small  scale.  In  all  these  activities  it  is  most  important  that  the  agricultural 
department  shall  make  large  use  of  the  schools.  This  applies  also  to  other  government 
departments,  particularly  health. 

5.  That  earnest  effort  be  made  to  develop  the  cooperation  of  government,  missions, 
and  commercial  concerns  for  the  educational  improvement  of  the  people.  The  end  to  be 
attained  is  so  vital  as  to  merit  the  best  thought  and  the  utmost  energy  to  realize  a  work- 
ing relationship  of  these  three  great  factors  in  colonial  life.  In  all  this  too  much 
emphasis  cannot  be  given  to  the  importance  of  cordial  understanding  between  Euro- 
peans and  Africans  in  all  plans. 

Geographically  the  application  of  these  recommendations  would  suggest  the  follow- 
ing modifications: 

Fourah  Bay  College 

This  institution  should  modify  the  present  course,  almost  exclusively  classical  and 
literary  and  intended  to  prepare  for  an  English  college,  to  a  course  which  would  provide 
adequately  for  physical  sciences,  including  chemistry,  physics,  biology,  physiology  and 
hygiene,  and  agriculture;  social  studies,  including  modern  history,  economics,  and 
sociology;  modern  languages;  the  languages  of  the  aborigines;  ethics,  psychology,  and 
the  art  of  teaching.  Students  should  be  shown  how  to  minister  to  the  community  needs 
of  the  people  by  neighborhood  activities  under  the  direction  of  the  college.  The 
sympathetic  attitude  of  the  African  people  towards  these  changes  is  indicated  by 
appropriations  by  Africans  to  found  a  department  of  science. 

Freetown  Secondary  Schools  for  Young  Men 

Leadership  for  the  masses  requires  that  the  distinctly  literary  and  classical  char- 
acter of  the  courses  in  most  of  these  schools  be  modified  and  provision  made  for 
physical  sciences,  social  studies,  and  activities  more  directly  related  to  the  educational 
needs  of  the  colony.  There  should  be  greater  recognition  of  such  vital  subjects  as 
physiology  and  hygiene,  agriculture,  and  teacher  preparation.  The  five  schools  in  this 
group  should  work  out  some  form  of  cooperation  so  that  each  may  contribute  to  the 
general  purpose  of  secondary  education  in  the  service  of  the  people.  At  present  each 
school  is  struggling  to  maintain  a  complete  course  and  the  general  purpose  is  prepara- 
tion to  pass  the  Oxford  or  Cambridge  local  examination.  In  his  despair  for  the  co- 
operation recommended  above,  the  Director  of  Education  has  urged  a  "government 
secondary  school  for  boys  run  entirely  on  modern  lines  with  strong  science  side."  The 

*Chapter  III,  page  52. 


120 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


implication  of  these  facts  is  clearly  that  the  government  and  the  mission  boards  should 
combine  to  work  out  a  plan  of  cooperation  that  will  give  Freetown  a  secondary  school 
system  that  represents  the  best  ideals  and  the  combined  strength  of  all  the  groups. 

Freetown  Secondary  Schools  for  Young  Women 

The  two  institutions  for  young  women  have  always  stressed  the  home  life  of  their 
pupils.  The  call  of  the  masses  requires  still  greater  emphasis  for  a  leadership  of  African 
women  prepared  to  teach  the  simple  necessities  of  the  home  as  well  as  to  impart  the 
inspirations  of  motherhood.  Here,  too,  the  recommendation  of  the  Director  of  Educa- 
tion for  a  government  school  for  girls  should  be  taken  as  a  call  for  a  strong  cooperative 
movement  so  that  each  may  supplement  the  general  education  of  women.  This  call  for 
cooperation  is  emphasized  by  the  organization  of  Freetown  women  who  have  sent  two 
of  their  representatives  to  appeal  to  America  for  funds  to  found  an  industrial  school  for 
the  training  of  African  girls. 

Technical  Schools 

The  technical  schools,  now  almost  negligible  in  influence,  should  be  organized  so 
tliat  they  may  command  the  respect  of  the  people.  Public  sentiment  in  the  colony 
seems  not  to  be  convinced  that  these  schools  are  really  educational. 

Protectorate  Education 

Government  and  mission  societies  should  center  their  expenditures  and  energy  on 
the  million  and  a  third  of  Native  people  in  the  whole  Protectorate  as  against  the  sixty 
thousand  of  Freetown  and  vicinity.  The  Bo  School  for  Sons  and  Nominees  of  Chiefs, 
Njala  Agricultural  School,  and  the  Moyamba  Girls  School  are  all  excellent  types,  but 
they  must  be  multiplied,  enlarged,  and  raised  in  standards  as  soon  as  conditions  permit. 
The  community  elements  of  rural  education,  including  country  life  schools,  movable 
schools,  farm-demonstration  work,  and  boys'  clubs  should  be  introduced  with  the 
modifications  needed  in  Africa. 


Chapter  VII 


THE  GOLD  COAST 


The  educational  activities  in  the  Gold  Coast  are  in  many  respects  the  most  signifi- 
cant of  any  observed  in  Africa.  The  unique  elements  in  the  situation  arise  partly  from 
the  contrast  of  school  systems  organized  according  to  varied  ideals  of  education.  First 
of  these  is  the  definite  effort  of  the  government,  beginning  in  1909,  to  relate  education 
to  the  needs  of  the  people.  The  second  is  the  application  of  Swiss  and  German  ideas  of 
organization  and  training  to  the  rural  Natives.  The  third  is  the  evangelistic  use  of 
education  as  an  incident  to  general  missionary  endeavors.  Study  of  the  results  of  these 
three  types  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  colonial  and  missionary  administrators  of 
education.  Quantitatively,  educational  facilities  in  the  Gold  Coast  are  inadequate. 
Fewer  than  one-tenth  of  the  youth  of  school  age  are  in  school.  The  lines  of  develop- 
ment and  adaptation  required  must  be  based  upon  the  economic  and  sociological 
condition  of  the  people  and  upon  the  present  educational  facilities.  Part  I  of  this 
chapter  outlines  the  important  facts  concerning  the  country,  the  people,  and  European 
organizations.  Part  II  describes  the  educational  facilifies,  and  Part  III  summarizes 
the  conclusions  and  recommendations. 


The  Gold  Coast  is  a  British  colony  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa,  directly  across  from 
the  northernmost  sectionof  South  America.  Rectangular  in  shape,  it  extends  northward 
from  the  Gulf  of  Guinea  about  500  miles.  The  southern  boundary  extends  350  miles 
along  the  coast.  Its  total  area,  about  80,000  square  miles,  equals  that  of  England  and 
Scotland  combined,  or  twice  that  of  Ohio.  The  native  population  is  over  two  million 
and  the  European  population  is  about  3,000,  negligible  in  proportion  but  all-powerful 
in  direction  and  control.  Numerous  coast  fortresses  of  large  dimensions  and  romantic 
architecture  record  the  dramatic  struggles  of  various  European  nations  to  possess  the 
mineral  and  human  resources  of  the  country  from  the  fifteenth  century  to  recent  times. 
It  is  generally  agreed  that  European  colonization  has  had  a  more  beneficent  influence 
and  a  greater  degree  of  success  in  the  Gold  Coast  than  in  any  other  African  colony. 

THE  The  geographical  divisions  of  the  Gold  Coast,  with  their  approximate 

PEOPLE     population  and  area,  are  as  follows: 


I.    ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIOLOGICAL  BACKGROUND 


Colony  Proper    .  . 

Ashanti  

Northern  Territories 


1,143,000  people,  24,000  square  miles 
407,000      "  20,000 
527,000      "  36,000 


In  contrast  with  Sierra  Leone  and  Liberia,  the  Natives  of  the  coimtry  occupy 
both  coast  settlements  and  the  interior.    Interesting  historical  references  to  the 


122 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


numberous  tribes  in  the  southern  half  of  the  Gold  Coast  date  back  to  the  fifteenth 
century,  when  Portuguese  and  French  navigators  sailed  along  the  coast  and  erected 
fortresses  to  protect  their  spheres  of  influence.  Soon  afterwards  Swedish,  Danish, 
Dutch,  and  English  representatives  came  seeking  gold  and  slaves.  Interesting  tra- 
ditions point  to  ancient  communications  of  Egypt  and  Phoenicia  with  this  country, 
and  in  the  tenth  and  twelfth  centuries  of  our  era  to  Mohammedan  influence  extend- 
ing over  the  Sahara  to  the  riches  of  the  Gold  Coast.  The  famous  "Aggrey  beads," 
known  to  the  Phoenicians  and  known  today  in  the  Gold  Coast,  are  curious  links 
with  the  ancient  past. 

During  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  English  trading  companies 
and  European  nations  were  extending  their  trading  operations  in  the  colony.  Coastal 
tribes,  about  ten  in  number,  were  assuming  territorial  limits,  and  inland  tribes  were 
being  absorbed  by  the  Ashanti  people.  These  movements  continued  with  numerous 
differentiations  of  little  significance  until  1871,  when  all  the  territory  was  trans- 
ferred to  British  control.  The  Ashanti  people  continued  their  raids  against  other 
tribes  and  their  warfare  against  the  British  until  1900,  when  they  were  completely 
conquered.  The  large  area  to  the  north  of  Ashanti  was  definitely  organized  into  the 
"Northern  Territories"  in  1897  and  placed  under  a  commissioner. 

The  educational  significance  of  these  historical  incidents  is  in  the  information 
they  aft'ord  concerning  the  influences  that  have  helped  to  mould  the  Native  people 
of  the  Gold  Coast.  Even  the  passing  traveler  notes  the  results  of  these  contacts. 
Probably  the  most  striking  result  is  the  susceptibility  to  the  appeal  of  education  and 
civilization.  The  young  African  everywhere  is  eager  for  schooling.  The  difference 
in  interest  appears  more  in  the  attitudes  of  chiefs  or  other  officers  representing  the 
tribal  traditions. 

The  coast  tribes  with  their  long  and  frequent  contacts  with  Europeans  are  par- 
ticularly eager  for  educational  opportunities.  The  Ashanti  people  reflect  some- 
what their  warring  history.  Many  of  their  chiefs  have  to  be  convinced  that 
education  will  not  undermine  their  influence  and  injure  their  people.  The  tribes  of 
the  Northern  Territories,  practically  untouched  by  European  influence,  have  not 
developed  any  decided  attitude  as  to  schools.  They  are  generally  open  to  approach 
and  willing  to  be  taught,  though  some  of  the  older  men  constitute  a  decided  exception 
to  this  favorable  attitude. 

Some  observations  made  by  the  Education  Commission  give  a  more  intimate  view 
of  the  educational  needs  and  possibilities  of  the  Native  groups  as  they  appear  to  the 
traveler.  It  wa§  observed  that  the  women  in  fully  half  of  the  Ashanti  villages  were 
engaged  in  making  pottery,  often  of  pleasing  lines,  for  carrying  water  and  marketable 
products.  Village  blacksmiths,  woodworkers,  and  weavers  were  seen  in  a  number  of 
communities.  Soil  cultivation  of  a  very  crude  and  primitive  character  was  the  pre- 
vaihng  occupation.  The  type  of  native  rulers  is  usually  another  indication  of  the  socio- 
logical status  of  the  people.  One  old  Ashanti  chief  who  was  visited  took  delight  in 
describing  his  fights  with  the  white  people.  He  is  suspicious  of  education  and  treats 
his  wives  and  children  as  servants  and  property.  The  king  of  one  of  the  coast  groups 


THE  GOLD  COAST,  BRITISH  WEST  AFRICA 

Schools  are  concentrated  largely  in  the  Eastern  Province.  Ashanti  has  limited  educational  provision, 
while  the  Northern  Territories  are  practically  without  school  facilities.  Togoland,  shown  on  the 
map,  is  a  British  mandated  territory,  part  of  the  former  German  Togoland. 


124 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


received  the  Commission  with  the  dignity  and  splendor  of  mediaeval  European  courts. 
His  son  is  a  graduate  of  one  of  the  English  Inns  of  Court.  Some  of  his  people  are  gold- 
smiths of  considerable  skill.  The  masses  are  simple  workers  on  the  soil  with  many 
primitive  customs  and  an  income  that  is  exceedingly  meager.  Another  coast  group 
has  a  ruler  who  graduated  from  one  of  the  mission  schools.  This  ruler  recounts  the  stor- 
ies of  his  people's  past  with  great  pride.  He  encourages  those  who  e  n  to  recite  the 
songs  of  their  heroism.  His  plan  of  education  includes  features  that  relate  to  the  sim- 
ple needs  of  the  masses.  The  power  of  superstition  over  the  people  is  strikingly 
illustrated  by  the  strange  awe  with  which  one  of  the  Ashanti  lakes  is  regarded.  Chiefs 
and  fetish  priests  exercise  strict  control  over  this  lake.  No  boats  are  allowed  on  its 
surface.  Native  fishermen  use  only  logs.  Though  there  are  thousands  of  people  living 
all  about  the  shore,  only  a  few  fish  traps  cou'd  be  seen  on  the  extensive  surface  of  the 
lake. 

In  addition  to  these  Native  groups,  divided  roughly  on  the  basis  of  European  in- 
fluence, there  is  a  small  but  influential  group  of  educated  Natives,  most  of  whom  are 
living  in  the  cities  of  Accra,  Cape  Coast  Castle,  and  Seccondee  on  the  coast,  and  in 
Coomassie  and  various  small  centers  in  the  interior.  In  many  respects  they  resemble 
the  educated  group  of  Freetown,  Sierra  Leone.  They  are,  with  few  exceptions,  prod- 
ucts of  mission  schools  and  are  now  working  for  government  and  commercial  con- 
cerns not  only  in  the  Gold  Coast  but  in  other  parts  of  Africa.  A  few  of  them  are  pro- 
fessional men  of  considerable  influence,  graduates  in  law,  medicine,  engineering, 
and  theology  from  British  universities.  Their  blood-kinship  with  the  Natives  of  the 
country  marks  a  vital  difference  between  them  and  the  educated  groups  of  Freetown 
and  Liberia. 

It  is  not  possible  to  give  an  accurate  estimate  of  their  number.  As  they 
form  an  important  part  of  the  urban  population,  there  is  some  measure  of  their 
influence  in  statistics  for  cities.  The  population  of  the  larger  cities  is  as  follows: 
Accra,  25,000;  Cape  Coast  Castle,  12,000;  Seccondee,  12,000;  Coomassie,  30,000— 
of  whom  4,000  are  coast  Natives,  4,000  Ashantis  and  1,200  from  the  northern  terri- 
tories. While  the  educated  Natives  probably  do  not  constitute  more  than  half  the 
population  of  even  the  coast  cities,  they  undoubtedly  dominate  the  thought  and  ac- 
tion of  the  Native  groups.  In  appearance  and  manner  they  resemble  the  educated 
classes  of  American  Negroes.  They  speak  English  with  the  accent  and  accuracy  of 
English  people.  Everywhere  they  show  keen  interest  in  America  and  express  the 
hope  that  they  are  to  be  he'ped  by  American  wealth  and  sympathy. 

The  vital  statistics  for  the  Native  population  are  very  unsatisfactory.  The  only 
definite  measure  of  mortality  is  the  infantile  rate  for  Accra  during  1918  and  1919. 
The  deaths  of  infants  under  one  year  of  age  per  1,000  of  births  were  483  in  1918 
and  360  in  1919.  In  comparison  with  the  rate  of  75  and  100  in  European  or 
American  communities,  under  normal  conditions,  the  rates  for  Accra  are  exceedingly 
high.  These  high  rates  of  infant  mortality  in  Accra,  where  sanitary  regulations  are 
presumably  most  effective,  doubtless  point  to  still  higher  rates  of  mortality  among 
the  Natives  in  other  parts  of  the  Gold  Coast. 


THE  GOLD  COAST 


125 


THE  The  pliysical  resources  of  the  Cold  Coast  and  the  extent  to  which  they 

COUNTRY     arc  developed  at  present  are  indicated  in  the  following  statement  of  the 
principal  articles  of  export  for  1919 : 

Cocoa   £8,278,554  Palm  oil   £  140,103 

Gold  and  gold  dust .  .  .  1,403,700  Lumber   103,238 

Kola  nuts   350,249  Manganese   71,808 

Pahn  kernels   253,248  Rubber   33,037 

The  economic  situation  revealed  in  this  export  list  warrants  large  educational  de- 
velopment for  the  Gold  Coast.  Even  a  casual  study  of  the  methods  of  production 
of  these  articles  emphasizes  the  need  of  an  educational  system  that  will  reach  the 
masses  of  the  people  and  help  them  to  make  more  effective  use  of  the  soil  and  minerals 
and  water-power  all  about  them. 

The  remarkable  increase  of  cocoa  production  represents  such  a  variety  of  causes, 
effects,  and  possibilities  as  to  merit  special  comment.  According  to  the  Gold  Coast 
Blue  Book,  1919,  "the  production  is  in  the  hands  of  Native  peasant  proprietors  who 
have  developed  an  industry  which  in  1891  exported  80  pounds  of  cocoa,  in  1911 
more  cocoa  than  any  other  country,  and  in  1919  more  than  half  the  world's  supply." 
The  remarkable  increase  of  360  per  cent  in  the  value  of  cocoa  exports  for  1919  as 
compared  with  1918  is  explained  by  improved  shipping  facilities  after  the  war  and 
l)y  the  jump  in  the  average  value  per  ton  from  £27  in  1918  to  £47  in  1919. 

The  effect  of  this  phenomenal  cocoa  boom  was  evident  in  every  phase  of  life  in  the 
colony.  While  the  majority  rejoiced  without  measure  and  rushed  blindly  into  plans 
for  still  greater  increase,  there  were  a  few  thoughtful  people  who  realized  the  grave 
dangers  of  a  one-crop  production,  resulting  in  the  neglect  of  other  important  crops 
and  in  ruthless  destruction  of  valuable  timber  and  sometimes  involving  even  the 
cutting  down  of  palm  trees.  It  seems  passing  strange  that  the  lessons  of  the  cocoa 
depression  of  1918  were  so  soon  forgotten.  In  his  1918  report,  the  Director  of 
Agriculture  writes  significantly  as  follows : 

The  depression  has  to  some  extent  revived  interest  in  other  products,  such  as  oil  palm  products  and  cola, 
and  their  production  shows  an  appreciable  increase  over  recent  years.  The  cultivation  of  foodstuffs  has 
also  been  energetically  prosecuted  so  that  no  actual  shortage  has  been  apparent;  and  minor  industries  have 
received  some  attention. 

Provided  therefore  the  lesson  afforded  by  the  recent  depression  is  pondered  and  taken  to  heart  it  may  not 
have  been  an  unmixed  evil  and  may  tend  toward  the  permanent  good  of  agriculture  in  this  country  by 
proving  to  the  people  the  foolishness  of  concentrating  attention  on  one  product  only — a  feature  that  has  been 
becoming  ever  more  apparent  year  by  year. 

The  world-wide  financial  depression  of  1921  involved  the  cocoa  industry  of  the 
Gold  Coast.  Peasant  farmers  and  commercial  enthusiasts  have  reason  to  learn 
the  wisdom  of  the  warning  sounded  so  recently  by  the  Director  of  Agriculture.  It 
is  evident  that  the  chief  factor  in  correcting  these  unfortunate  recurrences  of  booms  and 
depressions  is  a  sound  type  of  education  that  will  include  agriculture,  industry,  and 
the  community  needs  of  all  the  people. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  Report  to  present  a  complete  statement  of  the 


126 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


physical  resources  of  the  Gold  Coast.  Enough  has  been  presented  to  indicate  the 
fertility  of  the  soil,  the  wealth  of  minerals,  and  the  beginnings  of  industrial,  com- 
mercial, and  agricultural  development  of  the  country.  The  colony  is  seriously 
handicapped  by  lack  of  harbor  facilities.  There  is  no  natural  harbor  along  the  whole 
coast.  Passengers  and  freight  must  be  transferred  by  surf -boats  at  great  cost  and  con- 
siderable danger.  While  the  coastal  region  is  low,  with  considerable  areas  of  swamp, 
the  interior  is  a  plateau  with  hilly  regions  rising  to  the  height  of  2,000  feet.  Beyond 
the  forest  region,  extending  inland  about  150  miles,  there  are  plains  on  which  grains 
and  grasses  could  be  grown  and  stock-breeding  undertaken.  The  country  is  lacking 
in  navigable  rivers.  The  Volta  River,  extending  the  length  of  the  colony,  is  navigable 
for  launches  only  about  50  miles.    There  are  four  other  streams  of  little  importance. 

The  climate  is  tropical,  but  with  considerable  variations  of  heat  and  rainfall  in 
different  sections  of  the  colony  and  at  different  seasons  of  the  year.  The  coastal 
regions  are  more  frequently  damp  and  hot.  The  interior  plateaus  offer  agreeable 
changes  of  temperature.  The  average  maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  at  Accra 
is  86  and  the  average  minimum  is  73.  The  first  rainy  season  extends  from  March 
to  July;  the  later  rains  are  in  September  and  October.  The  dry  sandy  wind,  known 
as  the  Harmattan,  begins  in  December  and  ends  in  February.  With  proper  precau- 
tions as  regards  food,  overwork,  and  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  Europeans  of  normal 
vitality  are  able  to  endure  the  climate.  In  swampy  regions  it  is  necessary  to  avoid 
the  malaria  mosquitoes  and  to  take  an  adequate  amount  of  quinine. 

EUROPEAN  The  Gold  Coast  has  been  especially  fortunate  in  the  European 

ORGANIZATIONS  organizations  that  have  worked  in  the  colony.  The  old  fortresses 
along  the  coast  have  been  changed  from  strongholds  of  selfishness 
for  the  enslavement  of  the  people  into  the  headquarters  of  government  officers  work- 
ing out  plans  for  the  welfare  of  the  people  and  their  country.  The  achievements  of 
recent  governors  and  especially  of  Sir  John  Rodger  and  Sir  Hugh  Clifford  are  notable 
in  the  history  of  the  colony.  The  educational  plans  now  being  inaugurated  by  the 
Governor,  Sir  Frederick  Gordon  Guggisberg,  are  among  the  most  significant  govern- 
mental movements  for  education  observed  in  Africa. 

The  colony  is  administered  by  a  Governor  with  an  Executive  and  a  Legislative 
Council.  The  Executive  Council  consists  of  the  Colonial  Secretary,  Attorney  General, 
Treasurer,  Principal  Medical  Officer,  and  Secretary  for  Native  Affairs,  with  the  Gov- 
ernor as  the  President.  The  Legislative  Council  includes  the  Executive  Council,  Comp- 
troller of  Customs,  Director  of  Public  Works,  General  INIanager  of  Railways,  the  three 
Provisional  Commissioners  and  nine  unofficial  members  who  are  now  three  Europeans, 
three  Paramount  Chiefs,  and  three  educated  Native  Africans,  usually  from  the  coast 
towns.  All  the  members  are  nominated  by  the  Crown.  Ashanti  and  the  northern 
territories  are  each  administered  by  a  Chief  Commissioner  under  the  Governor  of 
the  Gold  Coast.  The  ability,  culture,  devotion,  and  experience  of  most  of  the  gov- 
ernment officers  whose  work  was  observed  in  the  various  provinces  of  the  Gold  Coast 
largely  explain  the  progress  that  has  been  made. 


THE  GOLD  COAST 


127 


The  only  available  measure  of  the  character  and  extent  of  governmental  activities 
in  the  Colony  is  found  in  the  following  statistics  of  expenditures  as  reported  in  the 
Blue  Book  for  1919: 


Total  Governmental  Expenditure   £1,777,750 

I.  Education,  agriculture,  and  health   £195,000 

Education,  £55,000;  agriculture,  £20,000;  medical 
and  sanitary,  £120,000. 

II.  Territorial  administration   115,000 

Governor,  commissioners,  courts,  etc. 

III.  Military,  police  and  prisons   215,000 

Military,   £120,000;  police,   £65,000;  prisons. 
£30,000. 

IV.  Public  works,  railroads,  highways,  posts  and  tele- 
graphs   474,000 

Public  works,  £177,000;  railroads,  £234,000;  posts 
and  telegraphs,  £63,336. 


The  relation  of  these  expenditures  to  the  welfare  of  the  Natives  is  roughly  indi- 
cated in  the  order  of  the  items.  The  first  group  of  expenditures,  including  education, 
agriculture,  and  health  improvement,  have  to  do  very  directly  with  the  conditions 
of  the  Natives.  The  £55,000  for  education,  a  little  over  three  per  cent  of  the  total, 
is  evidently  a  very  meager  sum  for  the  schools  of  the  colony.  It  seems  fair  to  credit 
the  government  with  the  welfare  work  represented  by  expenditures  for  agriculture 
and  health.  The  total  of  these  expenditures  is  £195,000,  over  ten  per  cent  of  the  total 
expenditures. 

The  second  group  include  the  salaries  and  expenses  of  the  Governor,  the  Commis- 
sioners, the  courts,  and  the  administrative  agencies  dealing  with  the  Natives  and  the 
general  order  of  the  country.  The  civilizing  and  educational  influences  of  these  ac- 
tivities are  in  some  respects  more  important  than  those  of  schools,  especially  of  the 
traditional  type  unrelated  to  the  life  of  the  people.  The  expenditures  under  this  head 
represent  about  seven  per  cent  of  the  total. 

The  third  group  of  expenditures  comprise  the  appropriations  for  police,  prisons, 
and  soldiers.  In  a  new  country  these  agencies  are  used  to  establish  law  and  order 
necessary  to  education,  health,  and  general  safety.  Under  British  administration 
the  instruction  and  discipline  of  the  military  forces  are  usually  educational  in 
eflfect. 

The  fourth  group  of  expenditures  provide  for  the  physical  improvement  of  the 
country  and  include  the  railroads,  the  roads,  post-office  and  telegraph,  water-works, 
and  public  buildings.  The  railroads  in  the  Gold  Coast  represent  a  mileage  of  269 
miles  and  a  total  cost  of  £3,500,000.  The  public  highways  have  a  total  mileage 
about  3,000  miles,  of  which  about  600  miles  were  constructed  by  the  Public  Works 
Department  and  about  2,400  miles  by  the  tribal  chiefs.  The  telegraph  system  has 
2,600  miles  of  wire  and  the  telephone  system  has  254  telephones.  The  expenditures 
for  all  items  in  this  group  constitute  about  25  per  cent  of  the  total.   These  sums, 


128 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


wisely  expended  as  they  usually  are,  contribute  a  factor  of  essential  value  to  the 
develojiuient  of  the  peoi)le  and  the  country. 

The  influence  of  commercial  concerns  cannot  be  overlooked  in  the  evolution  of 
the  influence  of  European  organizations.  In  1919  the  European  population  consisted 
of  1,902  persons  in  mercantile  operations,  561  in  mining,  653  in  government  service 
and  66  missionaries.  The  increase  of  200  per  cent  in  the  members  of  the  mercantile 
community  over  1918  marks  both  the  return  of  men  from  war  and  the  revival  of  trade. 
The  chief  imports  in  1919  were  as  follows: 


The  exports  have  been  enumerated  as  an  evidence  of  the  resources  of  the  country. 
Ships  entering  and  clearing  totaled  1,671,000  tons,  a  tonnage  nearly  equal  to  that  of 
1914.  The  volume  of  commercial  activities  represented  by  these  imports,  exports, 
and  tonnage  of  ships  indicates  the  vital  place  of  European  business  in  the  life  of 
the  colony. 

Whatever  may  be  the  influence  of  the  commercial  groups  and  their  large  business 
activities,  it  is  exceedingly  significant  that  of  the  3,200  Europeans  in  the  Gold  Coast 
only  66  are  missionaries.  Inquiries  as  to  the  educational  interest  of  those  engaged  in 
business  indicated  that  they  have  but  limited  appreciation  of  the  value  of  education 
in  the  training  of  Natives  for  the  economic  welfare  of  the  country.  The  prevailing 
notion  seemed  to  be  that  the  business  value  of  the  schools  consists  in  the  preparation 
of  Native  clerks  for  business  offices. 

An  important  exception  to  this  superficial  conception  of  Native  education  is 
found  in  the  plans  of  the  Commonwealth  Trust.  This  organization,  consisting  of 
well-known  men  in  Great  Britain,  was  formed  at  the  end  of  the  Great  War  to  carry 
on  the  business  activities  of  the  Basel  Mission  factories.  In  the  original  plans  of 
the  Basel  Mission  provision  was  made  for  educational  and  religious  work  in  one 
part  of  the  organization,  and  for  trading,  mechanical  work,  and  general  business  in 
the  so-called  "factories."  The  latter  were  made  possible  by  investments  of  German 
and  Swiss  business  men,  who  received  a  limited  return  on  their  investment.  All 
profits  in  excess  of  this  limited  dividend  were  given  to  religious  and  educational 
activities.  The  interaction  of  these  commercial  and  educational  activities  has  had  a 
number  of  important  results.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  Commonwealth  Trust  to  hand 
over  its  surplus  profits  (after  payment  of  a  limited  fixed  dividend  to  the  shareholders) 
to  a  body  of  directors  called  the  Commonwealth  Welfare  Trustees  to  be  applied  by 
them  for  the  encouragement  of  educational  movements  closely  related  to  the  needs 
of  the  people.  One-half  of  the  trustees  are  nominated  by  the  Trading  Company, 
and  the  other  hah  by  the  Conference  of  Missionary  Societies  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  leadership  of  this  Fund  will  cause  all  commercial 
concerns  to  realize  that  sound  economic  wisdom  requires  a  recognition  on  their  part 
of  the  place  of  Native  education  in  the  welfare  of  the  colony. 


Cotton  goods 
Machinery  . 
Provisions  .  . 
Apparel  .  .  . 


£2,000,000 


87,000 
394,000 
138,000 


Bags  and  sacks  .... 
Building  material    .  .  . 

Liquid  fuel  

Motor  ears  and  carriages 


£725,000 
142,000 
268,000 
285,000 


THE  GOLD  COAST 


no 


II.  EDUCATION 

The  educational  development  of  the  Gold  Coast  is  quite  as  interesting  and  unique 
as  the  economic  and  sociological  development  just  outlined.  There  is  a  dramatic 
element  in  the  heroic  work  of  the  British  officers  who  came  to  Africa  as  the  official 
chaplains  of  coast  castles,  but  who  remained  in  Africa  to  minister  to  the  Native 
people.  The  record  shows  that  at  least  three  of  these  brave  men  died  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Cape  Coast  Castle  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Though 
their  black  pupils  were  left  without  European  guidance  for  many  years,  the  repre- 
sent-atives  of  the  Wesleyan  Mission,  arriving  about  1835,  found  the  results  of  these 
early  efforts  conserved  by  the  Native  people.  On  this  foundation  the  Wesleyans  have 
organized  an  important  educational  work.  The  Basel  missionaries  from  Switzerland 
and  Germany  arrived  at  Accra  in  1827.  Their  activities  have  been  effective  in  extent 
and  significant  in  method.  The  Bremen  or  North  German  Mission  was  begun  in 
1847  and  confined  to  the  extreme  east  section.  The  Roman  Catholic  Mission,  begun 
in  1881,  now  has  work  in  the  principal  coast  towns,  in  Coomassie,  and  in  other  inland 
stations.  Though  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  commenced  work 
in  1751,  it  has  at  present  only  six  schools,  five  in  the  Western  Province  and  Ashanti, 
and  one  at  Cape  Coast.  The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Mission,  an  organi- 
zation of  American  Negroes,  maintains  six  schools,  practically  all  in  coast  cities. 
Mohammedan  communities  and  organizations  are  fairly  numerous  in  certain  parts 
of  the  Gold  Coast.  They  are  chiefly  Hausa  and  Yoruba  settlers  and  itinerant  traders 
from  northern  territories.  The  Commission  regarded  it  as  significant  that  the  Mo- 
hammedan groups  did  not  seem  to  be  an  integral  part  of  the  general  community 
either  in  Ashanti  or  in  the  coast  provinces. 

The  educational  activities  of  the  Gold  Coast  Government  are  noteworthy  for 
their  efficiency  and  extent,  especially  in  comparison  with  those  of  other  colonies. 
They  include  the  maintenance  of  19  government  schools;  financial  assistance  of 
mission  schools  attaining  government  standards;  and  the  inspection  of  both  govern- 
ment and  assisted  mission  schools.  Noteworthy  as  these  activities  are  in  comparison 
with  those  of  other  colonies,  the  following  statement  by  Sir  Hugh  Clifford,  former 
governor  of  the  Gold  Coast,  expresses  the  conviction  of  every  thoughtful  British 
official: 

I  cannot  pretend  that  I  am  equally  satisfied  with  the  amount  of  money  which  during  the  period  in 
question  Government  has  devoted  to  education.  The  expenditure  on  this  service  has  automatically  increased 
from  year  to  year  during  the  period  under  review,  but  in  my  opinion  £37,511  is  a  pitifully  small  sum  for  a 
colony  of  the  standing  of  the  Gold  Coast  annually  to  disburse  in  the  cause  of  education. 

Sir  Frederick  Gordon  Guggisberg,  the  present  governor,  confirms  this  convic- 
tion in  the  following  significant  words,  which  he  is  endeavoring  to  reaUze  by  every 
possible  means  at  his  command: 

The  government  now  regards  education  as  the  first  and  foremost  step  in  progress  of  the  races  of  the 
Gold  Coast  and  therefore  as  the  most  important  item  in  its  work.  We  shall  not  get  a  satisfactory  system  of 
education  in  this  country  without  the  expenditure  of  a  very  large  sum. 


130 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


The  only  available  statistics  concerning  schools  in  the  Gold  Coast  are  those 
relating  to  government  schools  and  mission  schools  receiving  financial  assistance 
from  the  government.  According  to  these  statistics  for  1919  the  number  of  schools 
in  the  Gold  Coast  was  216,  with  a  total  enrollment  27,500  pupils.  It  is  estimated  that 
there  were  about  250  small  unassisted  schools  with  an  enrollment  of  about  7,500 
pupils.  The  total  enrollment  for  all  schools  was  probably  35,000.  Comparison  of 
this  figure  with  300,000,  a  conservative  estimate  of  the  number  of  boys  and  girls  of 
school  age,  shows  that  the  present  educational  facilities  provide  for  a  little  more 
than  10  per  cent  of  the  children. 

The  statistics  further  show  that  of  the  three  large  divisions  of  the  Gold  Coast, 
the  colony  proper,  with  a  population  of  1,143,000  and  an  area  of  24,000  miles,  has 
186  schools  with  an  enrollment  of  25,000;  whereas  Ashanti,  with  407,000  people  and 
20,000  square  miles,  has  only  23  schools  with  an  enrollment  of  2,600;  and  the  northern 
territories,  with  527,000  people  and  36,000  square  miles,  have  only  four  schools  with 
an  enrollment  of  about  225  pupils.  It  is  evident  that  the  inland  areas  are  practically 
untouched  by  educational  agencies. 

This  concentration  is  further  emphasized  by  the  fact  that  the  schools  of  the 
colony  proper  are  largely  in  the  Eastern  Province.  This  province,  with  a  population 
of  594,000,  has  119  schools  with  an  enrollment  of  15,000  pupils;  whereas  the  Central 
Province,  with  335,000  people,  has  45  schools  with  an  enrollment  of  7,000  pupils, 
and  the  Western  Province,  with  214,000  people,  has  only  22  schools  with  an  enroll- 
ment of  about  2,500  pupils.  The  failure  of  the  schools  to  provide  for  rural  areas 
in  all  except  the  Eastern  Province  is  clearly  presented  in  the  following  statement 
by  the  Director  of  Education:  "Even  in  the  Central  Province,  educational  work 
has  not  made  progress  except  in  the  large  coast  towns.  On  the  other  hand,  schools 
are  found  all  over  the  Eastern  Province." 

Comparison  of  school  attendance  with  the  niunber  of  children  of  school  age 
shows  that  even  with  this  so-called  concentration  in  the  Eastern  Province  the  school 
facilities  fall  far  short  of  what  would  be  necessary  to  provide  for  all  the  children 
between  the  ages  of  6  and  14  years  in  the  province.  The  number  of  children  between 
these  ages  is  at  least  90,000,  whereas  only  15,000  are  now  in  school.  That  the  parents 
of  the  75,000  may  not  be  interested  in  sending  their  children  to  school  only  increases 
the  responsibility  of  a  government  endeavoring  to  direct  the  activities  of  the  people 
to  the  best  economic  and  civic  ends. 

Another  fact  of  general  interest  in  these  statistics  is  the  proportion  of  boys  and 
girls  enrolled  in  the  schools.  The  proportion  in  the  colony  as  a  whole  is  about  one 
girl  to  five  boys.  In  the  Eastern  Province  it  is  about  one  girl  to  four  boys;  in  the 
Central  Province  one  to  five;  in  the  Western  Province  one  to  ten.  In  Ashanti  the 
proportion  is  about  one  to  nine,  whereas  in  the  northern  territories  the  proportion 
is  one  girl  to  twenty  boys.  The  neglect  of  the  education  of  girls  and  women  is  evident 
in  these  statistics.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  educational  facilities  in  primitive 
groups  are  almost  exclusively  for  boys,  but  that  the  advancement  of  education 
results  in  a  rather  rapid  correction  of  the  disproportion. 


THE  GOLD  COAST 


ISl 


The  statistics  of  educational  expenditures  are  so  confusing  as  to  be  of  little  value 
in  determining  relative  costs.  According  to  the  report  for  1919,  the  total  estimated 
government  appropriation  was  approximately  £58,000.  Of  this  amount  £25,000 
was  a  special  expenditure  in  connection  with  the  Scottish  and  Bremen  Mission  schools 
and  the  reorganization  necessitated  by  the  change  from  the  Basel  Mission  to  the 
Scottish  Society.  Excluding  the  educational  expenditures  of  these  two  societies  and 
also  of  the  government,  the  total  income  of  the  other  assisted  schools  was  approxi- 
mately £15,000.  Of  this  sum,  £6,000  was  grants-in-aid  from  the  government,  £5,100 
was  paid  in  school  fees  by  the  pupils,  and  £3,300  was  contributed  by  the  mission 
societies. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  educational  influence  of  other  depart- 
ments of  the  government.  The  most  direct  of  these  are  the  Public  Works  Depart- 
ment in  training  mechanics,  the  Department  of  Health  in  the  dissemination  of 
information  and  the  awakening  of  public  opinion,  and  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture. The  Agricultural  Department  maintains  the  following  activities: 

(a)  Classes  for  school  teachers  and  students  at  five  stations  for  periods  of  three 
weeks  twice  a  year.  The  total  number  in  1919  was  98. 

(b)  A  small  rural  school  conducted  in  connection  with  the  Assuantsi  Experiment 
Station  for  the  education  of  the  Native  youth  in  rural  activities. 

(c)  Itinerant  instruction.  The  tours  of  senior  officers  through  rural  areas 
amounted  to  1,647  days  in  1919.  There  are  also  28  local  cocoa  instructors  of  the 
Head  Chiefs  of  Ashanti  and  the  Eastern  Province.  These  men  are  employed  by 
the  department  to  work  under  the  direction  of  the  chiefs  in  impro\'ing  the  methods 
of  cocoa  cultivation.  Owing  to  poor  supervision  by  the  chiefs,  their  work  is  said 
to  be  of  little  value. 

Government  Schools 

The  government  maintains  a  training  college  for  teachers,  with  89  pupils,  a 
technical  school  with  54  pupils,  and  nineteen  schools  of  various  standards  with  an 
enrollment  of  4,000  pupils.  The  training  college,  the  technical  school,  a  senior  school 
with  900  boys,  a  junior  school  with  530  boys,  and  a  girls'  school  with  210  girls,  making 
a  total  of  1,770  pupils,  are  all  located  in  the  city  of  Accra.  In  addition  to  these  there 
are  two  other  small  schools  in  rural  villages  of  the  Eastern  Province.  Two  of  the 
government  schools,  one  for  boys  with  an  enrollment  of  620,  and  one  for  girls  with 
an  enrollment  of  220,  are  in  the  city  of  Cape  Coast  Castle.  There  is  one  other  small 
school  in  the  Central  Province.  The  government  maintains  three  small  schools 
with  a  total  enrollment  of  150  in  the  Western  Province.  In  the  whole  of  Ashanti 
the  government  maintains  four  schools,  a  boys'  school  with  an  enrollment  of  418, 
and  a  girls'  school  with  93,  both  in  the  city  of  Coomassie,  and  two  small  schools 
in  rural  villages.  In  the  northern  territories  the  government  has  a  monopoly  on  the 
whole  area  with  only  four  small  schools  and  a  total  enrollment  of  211.  It  is  evident 
that  the  school  facihties  provided  by  the  goverrunent  are  very  largely  in  the  urban 


132 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


centers  of  the  colony.  Even  the  schools  observed  in  rural  villages  are,  with  one 
exception,  urban  in  type. 

The  Government  Training  Institution  for  Teachers,  organized  in  1909,  now 
has  a  teaching  staff  of  eight  teachers,  of  whom  five  are  European  and  three  are 
Native.  Some  of  the  European  teachers  are  usually  away  on  leave  in  England. 
The  number  of  students  in  1920  was  89,  all  boarding  at  the  school.  Students  are 
admitted  on  completion  of  the  seventh  standard.  The  government  provides  free 
tuition,  board,  and  lodging.  Students  qualified  to  enter  must  give  a  bond  of  £30  to 
complete  the  course  and  teach  for  five  years  in  a  government  or  assisted  school. 
The  course  covers  two  years,  and  includes  a  review  of  elementary  school  subjects, 
methods  of  teaching,  practice  teaching,  woodwork,  gardening,  and  religious  instruc- 
tion. Agricultural  instruction  is  given  at  the  Government  Experiment  Station  in 
two  courses  of  three  weeks  each.  The  classroom  teaching  was  effective  in  imparting 
information,  but  the  emphasis  was  literary  in  character  and  the  physical  sciences 
were  neglected.  The  pupils  in  woodwork,  for  example,  did  not  seem  to  understand 
the  value  of  their  work  for  the  development  of  character  or  for  practical  purposes. 
Some  of  them  regarded  the  work  as  merely  recreative.  The  management  of  the 
dormitories  and  school  recreation  contributes  effectively  to  orderliness,  cleanliness, 
and  other  sound  habits  of  life.  The  school  plant  is  one  of  the  best  observed  in  Africa. 
The  location  of  the  school  in  the  city  of  Accra,  its  curriculum,  and  its  general  emphasis 
all  tend  to  prepare  the  students  to  be  urban  teachers.  There  is  very  little  regard 
for  the  rural  needs  of  the  colony. 

The  Government  Technical  School,  organized  in  1909,  has  a  force  of  six  teachers, 
of  whom  four  are  Europeans  and  two  are  Natives.  Two  of  the  Europeans  are  usually 
away  on  leave  in  England.  The  principal  of  the  school  is  especially  well  prepared 
to  direct  the  activities  not  only  for  the  technical  training  of  the  pupils,  but  also  for 
their  character  development.  The  number  of  pupils  in  1920  was  54,  all  of  whom 
board  at  the  school.  Pupils  admitted  must  be  between  15  and  19  years  of  age,  must 
have  passed  the  fifth  standard,  and  must  give  a  bond  of  £10  to  complete  the  course. 
All  expenses  are  paid  by  the  government.  The  course  covers  three  years  of  instruc- 
tion either  in  carpentry  or  engineering.  The  latter  involves  machine-shop  theory 
and  practice,  including  the  general  repairs  of  machinery.  The  daily  program  in 
the  shops  is  from  8  to  12  a.m.  and  2  to  4  p.m.,  with  one  hour  of  written  work  in  the 
evening.  Workshop  arithmetic,  mechanical  drawing,  and  theory  are  offered  and 
greatly  appreciated  by  the  pupils.  Drill  and  physical  instruction  are  given  twice 
a  week.  Games  and  sports  are  encouraged  and  supervised  by  the  European  and 
Native  staff.  Religious  instruction  of  one  hour  a  week  is  provided  for  those  who 
desire  it.  The  present  endeavor  is  to  prepare  the  pupils  to  engage  in  the  mechanical 
activities  of  the  Government  Public  Works  Department  rather  than  to  become 
teachers  of  industry.  This  is  due  to  the  shortage  of  trained  mechanics  for  the  numer- 
ous reconstruction  projects  required  after  the  war.  The  Director  of  Education 
and  the  school  officers  are  emphatically  of  the  opinion  that  the  school  should  also 
send  forth  teachers  of  industry,  who  will  go  out  to  multiply  their  skill  in  the  prepara- 


Education  'J'liKdi  <,h  Imji  sun     XAinios    l-i,\i(\i\c.  m  Doing"  I  nukk  Heia.ian  1{aii.\\a^  Mixhanics 


THE  GOLD  COAST 


133 


tion  of  others  who  will  devote  themselves  directly  to  mechanical  pursuits.  The 
location  of  this  school  in  the  city  of  Accra  is  justified  by  the  important  industrial 
activities  of  the  government  center  of  the  colony. 

The  government  primary  and  grammar  schools  have  been  listed  and  their  loca- 
tion indicated  in  the  first  paragraph  of  this  section.  Practically  all  of  them  are  well 
managed.  The  English  system  of  supervision  is  effective  in  maintaining  the  measur- 
able elements  of  the  assigned  program.  The  curriculum  in  the  government  and 
assisted  schools  is  above  the  average  in  adaptation  to  the  needs  of  the  pupils,  requiring 
attention  to  such  subjects  as  hygiene,  hand  and  eye  training,  and  industrial  work. 
Whatever  failure  there  is  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  teachers  do  not  sufficiently 
appreciate  the  importance  of  these  subjects  and  especially  those  related  to  the  com- 
munity life  of  the  people.  Grammar  and  English  are  regarded  as  the  most  important 
subjects  of  the  curriculum.  The  schools  for  girls  at  Accra,  Cape  Coast,  and  Coomassie 
are  making  some  effort  to  relate  their  work  to  the  home  life  of  the  young  native 
women.   Much  more  is  to  be  desired. 

The  difficulty  of  organizing  school  activities  related  to  the  life  of  the  pupils  is 
illustrated  by  the  experience  of  the  government  in  trying  to  cooperate  with  two  cap- 
able and  influential  Native  rulers  who  desired  to  have  schools  for  their  people.  One 
of  these  rulers  was  especially  eager  that  the  boys  should  be  taught  to  till  the  soil. 
To  this  end  the  government  assisted  him  to  organize  a  school  near  the  governmental 
agricultural  experiment  station.  Each  boy  received  an  annual  grant  of  money  from 
the  chief  and  the  government.  -At  the  time  of  visitation  the  two-room  school  of  mud 
walls  and  corrugated  iron  roof  was  attended  by  a  small  group  of  rather  young  boys 
who  were  being  taught  the  usual  literary  program  by  Native  teachers.  The  chief 
had  lost  interest  and  the  general  feeling  was  that  the  school  had  failed  of  its  purpose, 
because  Native  sentiment  is  so  strongly  in  favor  of  books  as  against  a  knowledge  of 
the  soil.  The  school  organized  for  the  other  chief  was  also  located  in  the  heart  of  an 
agricultural  area,  but  the  teaching  emphasis  was  wholly  urban.  The  entertainment 
provided  for  the  visitors  was  a  reproduction  of  English  songs  and  recitations,  with  no 
reference  to  Africa.  There  was  comparatively  little  in  either  school  to  prepare  African 
youth  to  deal  more  eflfectively  with  their  environment. 

Scottish  Mission  Schools* 

The  educational  effort  of  the  Basel  Mission  in  the  Gold  Coast  has  produced  one 
of  the  most  interesting  and  effective  systems  of  schools  observed  in  Africa.  The 
Society  was  organized  in  1815  and  began  work  in  the  Gold  Coast  about  1827.  Dur- 
ing the  first  sixty  years  the  Society  lost  about  100  European  missionaries  through 
death.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  unique  organization  whereby  the 
Mission  maintained  two  kinds  of  institutions.  In  the  one  group  there  were  schools 
and  churches.  In  the  other  group  there  were  "factories,"  combining  both  stores  for 
trading  purposes  and  shops  for  mechanical  pursuits.  According  to  the  plan,  the 
"  factories  "  contributed  all  profits  beyond  five  per  cent  to  the  educational  and  relig- 
*Formerly  Basel  Mission 


134 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


ions  instruction.  Their  influence  was  by  no  means  limited  to  the  transfer  of  these 
excess  profits.  First  of  all  their  mechanical  shops  trained  and  employed  a  large  num- 
ber of  Natives  as  journeymen.  It  is  probable  that  these  shops  prepared  more  mechan- 
ics than  any  other  mission  agency  in  Africa,  and  rivalled  even  the  Public  Works  De- 
partment of  the  Government.  Secondly,  the  commercial  activities  reached  the  eco- 
nomic life  of  the  people,  influencing  their  agricultural  activities,  their  expenditures 
for  food  and  clothing,  and  developing  habits  of  thrift  and  home  life.  All  this  was  in 
accordance  with  the  fundamental  policy  of  the  Basel  Mission,  which  insisted  that  the 
converts  should  "come  out  from  among  their  heathen  relatives  and  form  a  separate 
community."  It  is  interesting  to  note  these  Christian  communities,  usually  neat 
and  clean,  in  contrast  with  the  Native  villages  and  the  Native  idea  of  order.  There 
is  undoubtedly  much  to  be  said  in  defense  of  this  "separatist"  method.  The  results 
in  the  Gold  Coast  prove  that  much  good  can  be  accomplished  in  this  way.  What- 
ever may  have  been  the  justification  in  the  past,  however,  it  seems  certain  that  the 
time  has  now  come  when  the  Christian  Natives  should,  so  far  as  possible,  retain  their 
relationship  to  their  Native  groups  and  become  a  leaven  for  civilization  and  Chris- 
tianity. 

As  a  result  of  war  conditions,  the  Basel  missionaries  were  compelled  to  withdraw 
from  the  Gold  Coast  about  January,  1918.  Early  in  1919  the  direction  of  the  work  was 
given  to  the  missionaries  of  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and  Mr.  A.  W. 
Wilkie  was  transferred  from  the  Calabar  Scottish  Missions  in  Nigeria  to  the  Gold 
Coast.  The  similarity  of  these  two  organizations  in  many  features  of  their  work  made 
possible  this  transfer  of  management  with  the  least  possible  disturbance  to  morale. 
The  elements  of  similarity  are  chiefly  the  thoroughness  of  supervision,  interest  in 
rural  communities,  and  educational  provision  for  the  simple  needs  of  the  people. 
The  following  minute  passed  by  the  Committee  of  the  Evangelical  Missionary  Society 
in  Basel,  December  15,  1919,  indicates  the  spirit  in  which  the  transfer  was  made: 

The  Basel  Mission,  being  prevented  from  continuing  its  work  on  the  Gold  Coast,  approves  of  our 
work  being  taken  up  by  the  Mission  of  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  It  has  given  us  great  satis- 
faction that  the  Scotch  Mission  wishes  to  enter  upon  the  work  on  the  Gold  Coast  with  the  intention  of  carry- 
ing it  on  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  it  was  done  before,  and  as  far  as  possible  keeping  up  the  organization 
introduced  by  the  Basel  Mission. 

As  to  the  property  of  the  Basel  Mission  on  the  Gold  Coast,  it  is  for  our  committee  a  matter  of  con- 
scientious stewardship  to  maintain — in  dealing  with  the  authorities — the  standpoint  of  legal  right,  but  we 
hand  it  over  to  the  Scotch  Mission  for  use  and  without  compensation  until  the  whole  situation  is 
definitely  cleared  up. 

We  shall  not  cease  to  take  a  deep  interest  in  your  labors,  and  to  remember  prayerfully  a  work  which 
has  been  built  up  with  such  an  amount  of  love  and  sacrifice. 

The  schools  of  the  Scottish  Mission  (formerly  Basel  Mission)  include  a  Catechists' 
Seminary  with  55  students,  and  a  Teachers'  Seminary  with  80  students,  both  requiring 
seven  standards  for  admission;  a  Girls'  Seminary  with  58  pupils  in  standards  IV  to 
VII  inclusive;  seven  boarding  schools  with  1,000  boys  in  standards  IV  to  VII  inclu- 
sive; 180  assisted  and  unassisted  schools  with  7,500  boys  and  3,000  girls  in  standards 
I  to  III  inclusive.    Of  the  last  group  75  maintain  the  standards  required  to  receive 


THE  GOLD  COAST 


185 


financial  aid  from  the  government  and  arc  classified  as  "Government  assisted  schools." 
The  enrollment  of  these  assisted  schools  is  5,100  boys  and  2,200  girls.  The  two  young 
men's  seminaries,  the  girls'  seminary,  and  the  seven  boarding  schools  for  boys  also 
receive  financial  aid  from  the  government.  There  is  also  in  Accra  a  book  store  which 
supplies  books,  stationery,  and  school  material  for  the  use  of  missions  and  the  general 
public.  While  it  is  conducted  on  a  commercial  basis,  the  store  has  a  decidedly  helpful 
educational  and  religious  influence. 

The  geographical  location  of  these  schools  is  notable  in  that  they  are  widely  dis- 
tributed over  the  rural  areas.  Of  the  61  assisted  schools  in  the  eastern  province  only 
two  are  located  in  Christianburg,  a  suburb  of  Accra.  All  but  one  of  the  five  boarding 
schools  for  boys  and  the  three  seminaries  are  situated  far  inland  among  the  Native 
people,  undisturbed  by  coast  influences.  The  nine  assisted  schools  in  the  central  prov- 
ince are  in  the  small  villages  of  the  province.  Only  one  of  the  thirteen  assisted  schools 
in  Ashanti  is  in  the  city  of  Coomassie.  The  provision  for  the  education  of  girls  is 
also  significant.  In  the  assisted  schools  the  ratio  of  girls  and  boys  is  about  one  girl  to 
two  or  three  boys.  This  ratio  is  much  more  favorable  to  the  girls  than  in  any  of  the 
other  groups  of  schools  in  the  Gold  Coast. 

The  organization  and  supervision  of  the  Scottish  Mission  system  of  schools  are 
deserving  of  special  consideration.  The  Basel  Mission  system  included  about  sixty 
European  workers  who  were  supervisors  of  field  work,  superintendents  of  schools  and 
mission  stations,  and  teachers  of  the  advanced  classes  and  special  subjects.  Up  to 
the  present  the  Scottish  Mission  has  been  able  to  have  only  ten  European  workers 
assigned  to  the  Gold  Coast.  Owing  to  absences  on  leave  and  illness,  this  number  is 
usually  very  much  less.  Plans  for  the  increase  of  the  staff  are  now  being  vigorously 
pushed.  In  the  meantime  the  Native  workers  are  showing  unusual  powers  of  super- 
vision. At  present  the  secretary  of  the  Scottish  Mission  in  the  Gold  Coast  has  general 
charge  of  all  the  schools  and  visits  all  districts.  The  field  is  divided  into  twenty-nine 
supervisory  districts,  with  one  Native  pastor  in  charge  of  each  district.  These  Native 
pastors  are  trained  teachers  and  visit  each  school  in  their  district  at  least  once  every 
three  months.  The  preparation  of  these  pastor-supervisors  and  the  eflficiency  of  their 
supervision  are  in  most  cases  quite  remarkable.  Each  pastor  has  at  his  headquarters 
one  central  school,  covering  three  standards,  under  three  teachers.  The  larger  village 
schools  have  two  or  more  teachers  and  three  standards.  The  small  village  or  bush 
schools  have  one  teacher  and  provide  two  or  three  years  of  instruction  up  to  Standard  I. 
From  the  three-standard  day  schools  the  pupils  are  promoted  to  one  of  the  seven- 
standard  boarding  schools.  The  next  step  is  a  two  years'  course  at  the  Teachers' 
Seminary  under  European  supervision.  Those  desiring  to  be  pastors  and  supervisors 
proceed  from  the  Teachers'  Seminary  to  the  two-year  course  in  the  Catechists'  Sem- 
inary. The  annual  program  of  the  boarding  school  provides  for  a  vacation  of  from  eight 
to  twelve  weeks.  The  daily  schedule  begins  between  5.30  and  6.00  in  the  morning 
and  continues  till  about  9.00  p.  m.  Ample  time  is  allowed  for  recreation  and  manual 
activities. 

The  mission  plants  erected  by  the  Basel  missionaries  are  unique.   They  are  fairly 


136 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


uniform  throughout  the  colony.  The  central  structure  of  every  mission  is  a  large 
building  surrounded  by  wide  verandas  on  the  first  and  second  floors.  The  ground 
floor  is  devoted  to  classrooms  and  the  second  floor  to  living  rooms  for  the  teachers  and 
workers.  The  walls  are  made  of  a  mixture  of  mud,  cement,  and  straw.  The  window 
frames,  doors,  and  wood-work  of  the  buildings  are  substantial  and  decidedly  Swiss  in 
appearance.  There  are  many  evidences  of  the  skilled  handicraft  of  the  Swiss  and  Ger- 
man missionaries.  On  the  second  floor  the  missionaries  can  enjoy  the  breezes  of  the 
well-ventilated  rooms  and  the  wide  verandas.  In  most  of  the  plants  this  large  building 
forms  one  side  of  a  rectangle,  the  other  sides  of  which  are  formed  by  one-story  build- 
ings used  as  dormitories,  kitchens,  and  sometimes  workshops.  The  arrangements  for 
the  pupils'  sleeping  and  eating  were  formerly  very  crude  in  most  of  the  schools.  Stu- 
dents were  compelled  to  arrange  for  their  own  food  with  the  village  families.  This  was 
exceedingly  unfortunate  and  in  the  case  of  the  girls  dangerous  to  morals.  Fortunately 
all  this  is  being  corrected  under  the  direction  of  the  Scottish  Missions.  Mention  must 
be  made  of  the  extensive  and  well-cultivated  gardens  around  some  of  the  schools. 
In  some  instances  these  gardens  are  beautiful  with  flowers  and  trees  and  rich  in  tropi- 
cal fruits. 

The  expenditures  for  this  system  of  schools  during  the  period  of  transfer  from 
Basel  Mission  to  Government  and  Scottish  Mission  are  probably  neither  typical  nor 
normal.  They  give,  however,  some  idea  of  costs.  In  1920  the  current  expenses  were 
£20,139,  of  which  £14,000  was  in  fees  obtained  from  the  Natives  and  £3,797  from  the 
government.  The  Scottish  Society  paid  the  salaries  and  expenses  of  the  European 
mission  workers. 

The  iVbetifi  Seminary  for  Training  Catechists  and  Pastors,  organized  in  1899,  has 
a  teaching  staff  of  one  European  and  two  Native  teachers.  The  number  of  students 
in  1920  was  56.  The  present  plan  is  to  admit  students  who  have  completed  seven 
standards  and  the  two-year  teachers'  course  at  Akropong.  The  course  is  two  years  and 
includes  dogmatics,  symbolics,  isagogics,  pastoral  theology,  homiletics,  church  history, 
comparative  religion  with  special  reference  to  Islam,  Christian  ethics.  Old  Testament 
and  New  Testament  exegesis,  singing,  manual  labor,  including  gardening  and  carpen- 
try. The  curriculum  is  evidently  very  "dogmatic  and  theological"  in  content.  There 
.seems  to  l)e  little  provision  for  the  development  of  interest  in  community  activities. 
No  physical  science  is  offered  and  agriculture  is  presented  only  in  manual  labor. 

The  Akropong  Teachers'  Seminary,  one  of  the  earliest  inland  schools,  has  two  Eu- 
ropean and  two  Native  teachers.  In  1920  there  were  80  students  admitted  on  comple- 
tion of  seven  standards  of  elementary  education.  The  curriculum  is  practically  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Government  Training  Institution  at  Accra.  The  course  in  "hand 
and  eye  work"  was  especially  good,  the  Native  teacher  showing  unusual  skill  in  his 
direction  of  the  pupils.  The  interest  of  the  pupils  in  the  community  needs  of  rural 
people  was  unusually  strong  and  intelligent.  The  high  type  of  students  and  their 
appreciation  of  the  essentials  of  education  are  explained  by  the  healthful  influences  to 
which  they  have  been  subjected  in  the  boarding  schools  located  in  rural  areas  close 
to  the  masses  of  the  Native  people.   It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  institution  will  provide 


THE  GOLD  COAST  137 

teachers  of  agriculture,  simple  industries,  and  physical  science.  The  plant  is  the  usual 
quadrangle  of  the  Basel  Mission  type.  Senior  and  junior  schools  of  elementary  grade 
are  closely  connected  with  the  Seminary.  This  grouping  of  schools  not  only  develops 
an  educational  atmosphere,  hut  also  furnishes  opi)ortunities  for  practice  teaching. 

The  Aburi  Girls'  Boarding  School  has  a  teaching  staff  of  two  European  women 
and  three  Native  women.  The  attendance  is  58  young  women,  admitted  after  com- 
pleting three  standards  of  elementary  education.  The  course  includes  standards 
IV  to  VII  inclusive,  according  to  the  government  code.  Provision  is  made  for  instruc- 
tion in  needlework,  cookery,  laundry,  and  gardening.  All  the  work  of  the  institution 
is  done  by  the  girls.  The  daily  program  is  as  follows:  Rising,  5.45  a.m.;  prayers, 
6.15;  domestic  work,  6.30  to  7.30;  school,  8.00  to  11.00;  play,  11.00  to  12.00;  dinner, 
12.00;  play,  12.30  to  2.00;  school,  2.00  to  4.00;  play,  4.00  to  6.30;  supper,  6.30;  prepara- 
tion, 7.00  to  8.00;  prayers,  8.00;  silence,  8.30.  The  plan  and  spirit  of  the  institution 
are  such  as  to  prepare  young  women  effectively  for  service  among  the  Native  people. 
The  plant  now  includes  the  buildings  formerly  used  as  a  hospital  for  the  Basel  mission- 
aries. The  gardens  and  general  arrangement  give  indication  of  the  thought  and  toil 
which  the  early  missionaries  devoted  to  the  plant.  There  is  now  need  for.  repairs  and 
modifications  to  suit  the  demands  of  a  larger  educational  work. 

The  seven  boarding  schools  for  boys  have  a  staff  of  thirty  well-trained  Native 
teachers.  The  attendance  is  about  1,000  boys  in  standards  IV  to  VII  inclusive.  The 
course  of  study  follows  closely  the  government  code.  The  general  order  and  spirit 
of  the  institutions  are  good.  The  institutions  have  been  unusually  successful  in 
strengthening  the  interest  of  the  pupils  in  the  problems  and  needs  of  their  Native 
communities.  While  improvements  have  lately  been  made  in  the  facilities  for  eating 
and  sleeping,  there  is  room  for  further  j)rogress.  Better  provision  should  also  be  made 
for  instruction  in  simple  industry,  agriculture,  and  physical  science. 

The  180  elementary  day  schools  offering  the  first  three  standards  of  elementary 
education  constitute  the  body  of  the  system.  With  the  infant  classes  providing  from 
one  to  three  years  of  instruction  before  standard  I,  these  schools  represent  four  or  five 
American  grades.  The  staff  consists  of  29  supervisors  and  315  teachers,  all  trained  in 
the  methods  of  teaching.  The  enrollment  is  10,500,  of  whom  7,500  are  boys  and  3,000 
are  girls.  The  efficiency  of  the  schools  is  indicated  by  the  high  average  attendance  of 
8,800.  The  course  is  largely  determined  by  the  government  code.  Strong  emphasis 
is  given  to  the  use  of  the  vernacular  as  the  medium  of  instruction,  particularly  in  the 
lower  departments. 

Wesleyan  Mission  Schools 

The  educational  and  religious  activities  of  the  Wesleyan  Mission  are  among  the 
most  important  in  the  Gold  Coast.  The  work  was  begun  in  1835,  when  a  young 
missionary  was  sent  over  in  response  to  the  request  of  a  ship  captain,  who  reported 
that  some  Natives  had  asked  to  be  supplied  with  Bibles.  The  origin  of  the  Native 
interest  in  the  Christian  religion  is  traced  to  the  work  of  an  army  chaplain  who  in  1751 
requested  permission  to  "make  a  trial  with  Natives  and  see  what  hope  there  would  be 


138 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


of  introducing  amongst  them  of  the  Christian  rehgion."  This  trial  was  continued 
through  the  aid  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  until  three  mission- 
aries died  and  a  fourth  was  incapacitated  by  illness. 

The  Wesleyan  missionary  of  1835  died  within  six  months.  Two  other  missionaries 
and  their  wives  followed,  but  all  were  dead  before  two  years  had  passed.  The  work 
was  immediately  continued  by  Thomas  Birch  Freeman,  whose  father  was  an  eman- 
cipated slave  and  whose  mother  was  English.  This  missionary  with  African  blood  in 
his  veins  was  able  to  survive  the  attacks  of  fever.  He  arrived  in  1838  and  applied  him- 
self vigorously  to  the  establishment  of  schools  and  churches.  In  1839  he  penetrated 
inland  as  far  as  Coomassie  and  in  1842  visited  Abeokuta  in  Nigeria.  In  many  places 
he  found  evidences  of  human  sacrifices,  including  torture,  mutilation,  and  burials 
of  the  living.  When  the  Mission  celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  in  1885,  Freeman, 
the  central  figure  of  the  celebration,  was  able  to  report  23  African  ministers,  48  cate- 
chists,  7,300  church  members,  3,000  pupils  in  74  day  schools  and  high  schools  for  boys 
and  girls  at  Cape  Coast  Castle  and  Lagos,  Nigeria.  The  price  of  this  achievement 
had  been  the  death  of  seventeen  missionaries  within  the  first  twelve  months  of  their 
service. 

The  Wesleyan  Mission  Schools  include  Richmond  College,  a  school  of  secondary 
grade  with  an  attendance  of  83  young  men;  Accra  Boarding  School  for  Girls;  Cape 
Coast  Boarding  School  for  Girls;  the  Training  Institution  at  Aburi,  and  44  govern- 
ment-assisted schools.  The  secretary  of  the  Mission  reports  415  smaller  schools, 
variously  denominated  as  preparatory,  primary,  or  outstation  schools.  The  super- 
vision of  these  smaller  schools  is  not  sufficiently  effective  to  obtain  reliable  reports  of 
attendance  and  work.  The  current  expenses  for  the  work  of  the  Society  are  reported 
to  be  £15,000,  of  which  £6,200  is  received  in  fees  from  the  Natives,  £500  from  the 
Home  Society,  and  £3,600  from  the  government. 

Richmond  College  is  a  school  of  secondary  grade,  located  at  Cape  Coast  Castle. 
It  is  one  of  the  oldest  schools  in  the  Gold  Coast,  and  has  exerted  a  notable  educational 
influence  in  the  Colony.  Many  of  the  Native  leaders  of  the  West  Coast  received  their 
early  training  in  this  institution.  The  teaching  staff  consists  of  two  European  and 
four  Native  teachers.  The  enrollment  includes  83  young  men,  of  whom  58  are  boarders 
and  25  are  day  students.  The  course  offers  four  years  of  secondary  subjects.  The  cur- 
riculum is  fairly  well  related  to  the  educational  needs  of  the  pupils.  The  spirit  and 
discipline  of  the  student  body  are  good.  The  management  and  teaching  are  effective. 
The  school  is  attractively  located  in  the  city  on  a  slight  elevation  overlooking  the 
ocean.  As  this  is  the  most  important  institution  in  the  Wesleyan  organization,  it  is 
hoped  that  the  plant  and  equipment  may  be  improved  and  the  organization  made 
thoroughly  effective. 

The  Cape  Coast  Girls'  School  is  located  in  the  same  compound  as  the  Richmond 
College,  but  the  work  is  entirely  separate.  The  staff  consists  of  two  European  women 
and  several  Native  teachers.  Provision  is  made  for  both  boarding  and  day  pupils. 
The  instruction  is  effective  and  well  related  to  the  needs  of  the  young  women. 

The  Accra  Girls'  School  is  located  m  the  center  of  the  city.   The  staff  consists  of 


THE  GOLD  COAST  189 

two  European  women  and  several  Native  teachers.  Provision  is  made  for  both  board- 
ing and  day  pupils.  Effort  is  made  to  relate  the  school  activities  to  the  home  life  of 
the  girls.   The  buildings  are  well  constructed  and  the  compound  comfortably  large. 

The  Wesleyan  Training  School  for  Agents  is  located  at  Aburi,  several  miles  in 
the  interior.  The  purpose  of  the  institution  is  to  train  young  men  to  become  teachers 
and  catecliists.  The  plant  consists  of  the  mission  house  and  school  l)uilding,  both  con- 
structed of  stone  and  cement  with  iron  roof,  and  seven  acres  of  land  used  for  gar- 
dens. At  the  time  of  visit,  the  work  was  being  reorganized  by  a  European  worker. 
The  wife  of  this  European  was  conducting  an  interesting  primary  school. 

The  assisted  schools  of  the  Wesleyan  Society  are  44  in  number,  with  an  enrollment 
of  8,000  pupils,  of  whom  about  7,000  are  boys  and  1,000  are  girls.  There  are  19 
schools  in  the  central  provmce,  centering  at  Cape  Coast,  with  an  enrollment  of  almost 
3,300  pupils,  of  whom  450  are  girls;  16  schools  in  the  eastern  province,  centering  at 
Accra,  with  an  enrollment  of  3,000, of  whom  400  are  girls;  7  schools  in  the  western  prov- 
ince, with  an  enrollment  of  about  1,300, of  whom  170  are  girls;  and  2  schools  in  Ashanti, 
with  an  enrollment  of  420,  of  whom  45  are  girls.  These  statistics  show  a  small  propor- 
tion of  girls  to  boys  in  the  enrollment.  Study  of  the  locations  shows,  furthermore, 
that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  schools  are  in  coast  towns  and  villages.  The  teach- 
ing staff  of  these  assisted  schools  consists  of  290  Native  men. 

In  addition  to  this  comparatively  small  number  of  schools  maintaining  standards 
of  work  meriting  government  recognition,  the  Wesleyan  Society  reports  a  consider- 
able number  of  unassisted  schools.  It  is  probable  that  many  of  these  are  of  compara- 
tively little  value.  They  are  under  the  direction  of  the  superintendent  minister  of 
each  circuit,  in  accordance  with  the  organization  of  the  Wesleyan  Church.  The  super- 
vision plan  requires  that  town  schools  shall  be  visited  every  week  and  bush  schools 
once  a  quarter. 

Roman  Catholic  Mission  Schools 

The  Roman  Catholic  Mission  began  work  at  Elmina  in  1881.  According  to  the 
report  of  the  Mission,  the  school  system  includes  six  schools  under  European  super- 
vision, with  455  pupils,  six  European  teachers  and  ten  Native  teachers;  eleven  inter- 
mediate schools  with  1,725  pupils  and  55  Native  teachers;  and  65  smaller  schools  with 
1,920  pupils  and  130  Native  teachers. 

The  government  reports  32  assisted  schools,  with  3,600  pupils,  of  whom  410  are 
girls.  Of  these  schools  eight  are  for  boys,  two  for  girls,  twelve  are  for  boys  and  girls, 
and  ten  are  for  infants.  The  eleven  schools  in  the  central  province  have  an  enroll- 
ment of  1,200,  of  whom  270  are  girls;  ten  schools  in  the  eastern  province  have  1,055 
pupils,  of  whom  51  are  girls;  nine  schools  in  the  western  province  have  830  pupils, 
of  whom  85  are  girls;  and  two  in  Ashanti  have  350  pupils,  of  whom  10  are  girls.  The 
small  proportion  of  girls  is  noticeable.  Most  of  the  schools  are  located  in  coast  towns. 

The  Cape  Coast  School  for  Girls  offers  instruction  through  seven  standards. 
The  staff  consists  of  two  European  Sisters,  assisted  by  Native  teachers.  A  number 
of  the  girls  board  at  the  school.  The  work  is  effective  and  effort  is  made  to  relate  the 


140 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


otlucation  to  the  life  of  the  girls.  There  is  also  a  boarding  school  for  boys  at  Elmina. 
In  addition  to  the  usual  academic  instruction,  some  provision  is  made  for  teaching 
printing,  binding,  rope-making,  and  gardening. 

Former  Bremen  Mission  Schools 

The  Bremen  Mission  began  its  Gold  Coast  work  in  1847.  Its  headquarters  were 
in  Togoland,  the  former  German  colony,  and  its  activities  in  the  Gold  Coast  were 
limited  to  the  extreme  eastern  section.  By  1881  it  had  only  four  schools  in  the  colony. 
In  1916  the  German  missionaries  were  deported  on  account  of  war  conditions  and  the 
management  of  the  school  was  taken  over  by  the  Education  Department  of  the  govern- 
ment. According  to  the  official  report  of  the  government  for  1919,  this  system  includes 
25  schools,  with  an  enrollment  of  1,866,  of  whom  320  were  girls.  The  schools  are 
located  in  rural  areas  and  the  standards  of  work  are  said  to  be  good. 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Mission  Schools 

The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Mission  represents  the  Church  of  that  name 
organized  in  America  by  American  Negroes.  It  is  one  of  the  strong  religious  organ- 
izations of  the  Negro  people  in  America.  It  began  work  in  the  Gold  Coast  about 
1900.  In  1904  the  organization  had  two  schools,  assisted  by  the  government,  and  in 
1914  there  were  three  assisted  schools.  According  to  the  report  for  1919,  there  were 
six  assisted  schools  with  938  pupils,  of  whom  88  were  girls.  Practically  all  of  these 
schools  are  in  coast  towns.  The  work  of  the  Cape  Coast  school  has  commendable 
qualities. 

Church  of  England  Schools 

The  work  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  this  field  goes  back 
to  1751,  when  the  Society  sent  to  the  Gold  Coast  the  Rev.  Thomas  Thompson,  who 
remained  there  until  1756,  when  he  was  compelled  to  retire  on  account  of  ill  health. 
Through  his  efforts  three  Natives  were  sent  to  England  for  education.  Two  of  these 
died,  but  one,  named  Philip  Quagua,  returned  to  carry  on  religious  work  till  1816. 
The  Society  then  discontinued  its  activities  in  the  Gold  Coast,  leaving  the  field  for  the 
Wesleyan  Mission  as  described  elsewhere. 

In  1904,  an  Assistant  Bishop  was  consecrated  for  the  Gold  Coast,  with  headquar- 
ters at  Seccondee.  At  present  the  church  reports  the  Cape  Coast  Secondary  School, 
with  75  boys,  five  assisted  schools  with  706  pupils,  and  three  unassisted  schools  with 
420  pupils.  Three  of  the  assisted  schools  are  in  the  western  province  and  two  are  at 
Coomassie.  Only  ten  per  cent  of  the  pupils  are  girls.  The  urban  location  and  interest 
of  practically  all  the  schools  deprive  them  of  any  influence  on  the  rural  masses. 

The  secondary  school  at  Cape  Coast  is  located  in  the  center  of  the  city.  The 
plant  and  boarding  facilities  are  in  bad  condition.  The  curriculum  is  literary  and 
classical,  with  practically  no  provision  for  physical  science.  The  Coomassie  Senior 
School  for  boys  provides  seven  standards.  The  classes  meet  in  the  church  building. 
The  course  includes  instruction  in  gardening.   There  was  evidence  of  real  effort  in  the 


THE  GOLD  COAST 


141 


past  to  make  this  instruction  effective.  At  the  time  of  visit,  however,  the  gardening 
was  poorly  supervised. 

Seventh  Day  Adventist  Schools 

The  Adventist  organization  maintains  one  boarding  school  with  41  pupils  and  five 
small  bush  schools  with  69  pupils.  The  superintendent  of  the  mission  is  European. 
The  teachers  are  all  Natives.  The  instruction  at  the  headquarters  school  includes  the 
usual  subjects  of  the  elementary  standards  with  training  in  farming  and  building. 

Independent  Schools 

The  Accra  Baptist  School  is  a  private  institution,  organized  and  controlled  by  a 
Native  minister,  the  Rev.  Mark  C.  Hayford.  The  funds  for  the  institution  have  been 
raised  largely  by  private  appeals  in  England  and  Scotland.  At  the  time  of  visit  the 
classes  were  crowded  in  half-finished  rooms  in  the  lower  part  of  the  building.  The 
upper  floor  is  occupied  by  Mr.  Hayford  and  his  family.  The  teaching  staff  consists 
of  Mrs.  Hayford,  a  European  women,  and  Native  teachers. 

The  Accra  Royal  School  is  another  private  institution,  organized  and  controlled 
by  Principal  Kitson  Mills,  a  Native  of  the  Gold  Coast.  Funds  for  the  school  are 
raised  mainly  by  entertainments  and  school  fees.  The  attendance  is  large  and  the 
course  covers  seven  standards.   The  building  and  equipment  are  poor. 

The  Graves  School  at  Cape  Coast  is  a  private  school,  maintained  by  fees  and  gifts 
from  Native  citizens.  The  building  is  a  discarded  trading  establishment.  The  board- 
ing facilities  are  crude  and  crowded.  The  curriculum  attempts  to  provide  courses 
in  French  and  classical  languages  to  pupils  of  very  limited  training.  The  shoe  repair- 
ing and  other  hand- work  are  commercial  in  character. 

Ill— SUMMARY  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

Comparison  of  the  economic,  sociological,  and  educational  conditions  in  the  Gold 
Coast  with  those  in  the  other  African  colonies  shows  the  unique  position  of  this  colony. 
The  Gold  Coast  is  in  many  respects  the  most  significant  area  visited.  Its  interesting 
history,  its  resources,  its  people,  its  landed  peasantry,  its  capable  governors,  its  effec- 
tive missions,  have  all  contributed  to  the  success  of  the  colony.  Great  credit  is  due  to 
the  Basel  missionaries  for  their  organization  of  a  system  of  schools  in  rural  areas. 
The  mechanical  activities  of  the  school  and  the  economic  influences  of  their  trading 
centers  have  made  a  real  contribution  to  the  development  of  the  West  Coast.  The 
Wesleyan  Mission  has  also  had  a  marked  influence  on  the  educational  and  religious  life 
of  the  colony.  Many  of  the  outstanding  Native  leaders  in  the  professional  life  of  the 
colony  are  products  of  the  Wesleyan  schools. 

The  educational  interests,  activities,  and  plans  of  the  Gold  Coast  Government  are 
very  significant  and  surpass  those  of  all  other  colonies  visited  by  the  Commission. 
The  definite  effort  of  the  Government  to  relate  education  to  the  needs  of  the  people 
probably  goes  back  to  Sir  John  P.  Rodger,  who  appointed  a  committee  in  1908  "to 


142 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


revise  educational  rules,  establish  a  training  institution  for  teachers,  to  establish  a 
technical  school,  and  to  introduce  hand  and  eye,  industrial  and  agricultural  training 
into  the  schools."  Americans  will  be  interested  to  know  that  Sir  John  was  influenced 
in  this  decision  by  his  tour  of  American  schools  for  Negroes.  The  success  of  this  com- 
mittee has  been  recorded  in  the  description  of  the  government  and  assisted  schools. 

In  March,  1920,  General  Guggisberg,  the  present  Governor,  appointed  a  committee 
to  survey  the  whole  field  of  education  in  the  Gold  Coast.  This  committee  worked 
with  conscientious  care  and  submitted  a  valuable  statement  of  present  conditions  and 
of  the  improvements  required.  The  Director  of  Education  is  now  observing  methods 
of  education  in  other  parts  of  the  world  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  important 
changes  in  the  Gold  Coast  system  of  schools.  The  most  immediate  effect  of  the  Gov- 
ernor's interest  in  education  has  been  the  decision  to  build  four  junior  trade  schools. 
The  official  pamphlet  gives  the  following  description: 

These  institutions  provide  a  four-year  course  to  boarding  pupils  only.  The  first  aim  is  the  training  of 
character.  Literary  education  will  occupy  a  third  of  the  time.  Vocational  training  will  aim  at  turning  out 
good  reliable  artisans  and  craftsmen.  Agriculture  will  be  taught  as  for  commercial  purposes  and  food 
farming.  The  whole  organization  will  be  carried  out  on  "Boy  Scout"  lines  and  each  class  will  become  a 
kind  of  a  Boy  Scout  troop. 

With  full  appreciation  of  past  educational  achievements  and  present  plans  of 
both  government  and  missions,  it  is  clear  that  only  a  good  beginning  has  been  made. 
Of  the  300,000  youth  of  school  age,  only  35,000  are  in  school.  The  government  is  not 
relieved  of  any  responsibility  by  the  fact  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  these  chil- 
dren and  their  parents  have  no  interest  in  education  or  that  many  of  them  are  even 
antagonistic  to  schools.  Sound  economics  and  sound  government  require  that  they 
shall  be  shown  the  value  of  education  in  spite  of  their  indiflFerence  or  opposition.  The 
present  teaching  force  in  the  colony  is  about  900,  and  the  annual  demand  for  new 
teachers  is  about  125.  To  meet  this  demand,  the  annual  output  of  new  teachers  is 
only  100.  Owing  to  the  strong  demand  of  commerce  for  intelligent  young  men,  a 
considerable  number  of  this  limited  output  are  drawn  away  from  the  teaching  pro- 
fession.  There  are,  therefore,  no  teachers  to  enter  the  new  educational  fields. 

As  regards  types  of  educational  activities,  it  has  been  noted  that  the  educational 
program  of  the  government  and  assisted  schools  includes  some  provision  for  hygiene, 
"hand  and  eye,"  and  industrial  training.  Owing  to  the  urban  location  of  most  of  the 
schools  and  the  strong  interest  of  the  teachers  in  literary  and  clerical  subjects,  how- 
ever, their  influence  is  much  more  related  to  the  small  urban  groups  of  people  than  to 
the  rural  masses. 

The  following  recommendations  indicate  the  general  lines  of  improvement  as  the 
needs  appear  on  the  basis  already  presented  in  this  chapter: 

1.  That  the  educational  authorities  differentiate  clearly  the  three  educational 
needs  of  the  Gold  Coast,  namely : 

(a)  The  education  of  the  300,000  boys  and  girls  of  school  age,  only  one-tenth 
of  whom  are  now  in  school. 


THE  GOLD  COAST 


143 


(h)  The  training  of  teachers  and  leaders  for  these  masses. 

(c)  The  education  of  professional  men,  such  as  physicians  and  lawyers,  who 
must  pass  the  conventional  requirements  of  education  in  British  universities, 

2.  That  the  program  of  education  be  based  upon  the  conception  that  the  devel- 
opment of  teachers  and  leaders  for  the  masses  is  the  first  task,  that  the  education  of 
the  masses  is  the  second  and  great  responsibility,  and  that  the  preparation  of  profes- 
sional men  according  to  conventional  European  standards  is  the  third  step. 

3.  That  the  education  of  Native  teachers  and  of  the  masses  of  the  people  be  deter- 
mined by  the  needs  of  the  masses,  namely,  health,  ability  to  develop  the  resources 
of  the  country,  household  arts,  sound  recreations,  rudiments  of  knowledge,  character 
development,  and  community  responsibility.  The  Native  teacher  should,  so  far  as 
possible,  have  access  to  the  great  truths  of  the  physical  and  social  sciences  and  the  in- 
spiration of  history  and  literature. 

4.  That  the  educational  policy  provide  for  a  system  of  schools  that  extends  among 
the  masses  of  the  people.   Such  a  system  requires  the  following  elements : 

(a)  Central  institutions  for  the  training  of  teachers  and  workers  imbued  with 
interest  in  the  community  life  of  the  Native  people.  It  is  clear  that  any  such 
institution  should  be  in  a  rural  area.  The  curriculum  should  provide  instruc- 
tion in  physical  and  social  sciences,  teacher-training,  agriculture,  mechanical 
arts,  household  arts,  methods  of  recreation  and  other  subjects  related  to 
the  life  of  the  people. 

(b)  Community  center  schools,  including  a  number  of  small  local  schools.  These 
center  schools  would  accept  pupils  finishing  the  local  schools.  They  would 
act  as  supervising  and  inspirational  centers  for  the  local  schools. 

(c)  Local  day  schools,  accessible  to  the  children  of  the  community  and  serving 
as  centers  for  the  improvement  of  health,  economic  welfare,  home,  and  gen- 
eral morals  of  the  people. 

(d)  A  supervisory  system  that  provides  not  inspection  only,  but  rather  more  of 
advice  and  cooperation  to  encourage,  strengthen,  and  inspire. 

5.  That  in  population  areas  without  schools,  the  government  provide  for  the 
present  lack  of  fully-trained  teachers  by  providing  for  the  temporary  employment  of 
teachers  of  lower  qualifications  on  condition  that  adequate  supervision  is  provided 
for  them  and  also  that  facilities  for  the  increased  supply  of  first-grade  teachers  are 
encouraged. 

6.  That  the  profession  of  teaching  receive  some  form  of  government  recognition 
in  addition  to  a  living  wage,  so  that  the  profession  may  attract  capable  youth  and  also 
exert  a  greater  influence  on  community  life. 

7.  That  the  education  of  women  and  girls  receive  much  more  serious  considera- 
tion both  as  to  quality  and  extent  of  training. 


144 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


8.  That  the  schools  in  their  community  extensions  he  regarded  as  centers  for 
transmitting  the  message  and  influence  of  such  government  departments  aS  agricul- 
ture and  health. 

9.  That  the  personnel  and  equipment  of  the  agricultural  department  be  enlarged 
so  that  more  provision  may  be  made  for  the  instruction  of  the  small  farmers  in  food 
production  and  in  general  rural  improvement.  Similarly  larger  educational  use  should 
be  made  of  the  health  and  public  works  departments.  In  these  activities  the  depart- 
ment of  education  should  be  regarded  as  the  technical  authority  on  methods  of 
instruction. 

10.  That  the  cooperation  now  existing  between  the  missions  and  government  be 
extended  to  include  the  commercial  and  industrial  agencies,  so  that  the  full  power  of 
the  colony  may  be  devoted  to  improvement  of  the  people. 


Chapter  VIII 


NIGERIA 

Confidence  in  the  future  educational  development  of  the  great  Colony  of  Nigeria 
must  be  based  on  the  significance  of  a  comparatively  small  number  of  well-organized 
mission  schools  and  on  the  educational  statesmanship  of  British  governors  like  Sir 
Frederick  Lugard  and  Sir  Hugh  Clifford.  Present  facilities  for  education  in  Southern 
Nigeria  are  utterly  inadequate  and,  with  few  exceptions,  not  adequately  related  to  the 
hygienic,  economic,  and  character  needs  of  the  eight  million  people  in  the  southern 
provinces.  Educational  provision  for  the  nine  million  Natives  in  Northern  Nigeria  is 
practically  all  in  promise.  The  three  government  schools  of  Kano  City  are  sound 
beginnings,  but  the  Native  millions  awaiting  education  present  a  stupendous  problem 
complicated  by  Mohammedan  and  tribal  differences  of  perplexing  proportions  and 
variety.  Part  I  of  this  chapter  presents  the  "Economic  and  Sociological  Backgrounds" 
for  education  in  a  brief  outline  of  the  important  facts  concerning  the  people,  the  coun- 
try, and  the  European  organizations  in  Nigeria.  Part  II  describes  the  educational 
facilities.   Part  III  contains  the  "Summary  and  Recommendations." 

I.    ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIOLOGICAL  BACKGROUND 

Nigeria  is  a  British  colony  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa.  With  a  coast  line  of  500 
miles,  stretching  east  and  west  along  the  Gulf  of  Guinea,  the  great  colony  extends 
northward  700  miles  to  the  French  Sudan.  Its  area,  about  360,000  square  miles,  is  of 
empire  dimensions — three  times  the  area  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  almost  as  large  as  France  and  Germany  combined,  and  larger  than  all  the 
Atlantic  coast  states  from  New  York  through  Florida.  The  Native  population, 
about  18,000,000,  is  one-half  that  of  England  and  Wales,  three  times  the  white  and 
Native  population  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa  or  Australasia,  and  almost  equal  to 
that  of  all  the  South  Atlantic  and  New  England  states.  The  European  population  is 
only  about  2,800,  negligible  in  proportion  but  most  influential  in  the  educational,  com- 
mercial, and  governmental  activities  of  the  colony. 

The  great  area  of  the  country,  the  variety  of  Native  peoples  and  their  tribes,  the 
diversity  of  physical  features  and  the  numerous  political  divisions  require  a  definition 
of  the  more  important  geographical  units.  The  map,  page  151,  indicates  the  distribu- 
tion and  density  of  the  population  and  the  location  of  the  twelve  provinces  in  Northern 
Nigeria,  the  nine  provinces  in  Southern  Nigeria,  the  colony  proper,  and  British 
Cameroons.  It  also  shows  the  division  of  Southern  Nigeria  into  the  western,  central, 
and  eastern  provinces.  The  areas  to  be  defined  are  as  follows : 

Southern  Nigeria  is  the  coastal  third  of  Nigeria,  with  7,750,000  people  and  77,000  square  miles. 
Northern  Nigeria  is  a  vast  inland  empire,  with  9,000,000  people  and  256,000  square  miles. 
The  colony  proper  includes  the  port  city  of  Lagos  and  a  small  area  thereabout,  with  154,000  people 
and  1,335  square  miles. 


146 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


The  British  Cameroons,  with  600,000  people  and  31,000  square  miles,  include  the  territory  assigned  to 
the  British  when  the  German  Kamerun  was  divided  between  the  British  and  the  French  according  to  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles. 

The  outstanding  physical  feature  of  Nigeria  is  the  great  Niger  River,  entering  at  the 
northwest  corner  and  flowing  east  and  south  through  the  center  of  Southern  Nigeria. 
About  250  miles  from  the  ocean  it  is  joined  by  the  Benue  River,  flowing  southeast  and 
draining  the  central  east  section  of  Nigeria.  Some  miles  from  the  coast,  the  Niger 
divides  into  numerous  branches  and  forms  a  delta  mesh  that  is  hardly  distinguishable 
from  the  small  streams  of  the  swampy  coast.  The  Cross  River  of  the  southeast  corner  is 
navigable  for  many  miles  and  drains  a  considerable  area.  These  rivers,  formerly  the 
highways  of  human  slavery,  are  now  important  agencies  of  commerce  and  civilization. 

Nigeria  as  a  whole  is  divided  into  four  physiographic  belts.  The  coast  region  is  an 
almost  continuous  swamp,  with  dense  mangrove  forests  extending  inland  from  ten  to 
sixty  miles.  The  one  striking  exception  in  this  dismal  area  is  the  mountainous  region 
of  the  extreme  east  coast  in  the  British  Cameroons,  where  the  Victoria  Mountains 
rise  to  a  height  of  14,000  feet.  The  second  belt  is  a  dense  tropical  forest  region,  fifty 
to  a  hundred  miles  in  width.  The  third  belt  is  a  more  open  type  of  country,  with 
hills  and  plains  of  high  grass  and  considerable  forest.  This  region  includes  the  northern 
stretches  of  Southern  Nigeria  and  extends  well  into  Northern  Nigeria.  The  remainder 
of  Nigeria,  constituting  about  one-half  the  total  area,  is  a  great  rolling  plateau  with  an 
average  height  of  about  2,000  feet,  rising  to  6,000  feet  toward  the  eastern  sections.  The 
vegetation  and  forests  of  the  southern  areas  grow  less  and  less  until  the  sandy  regions 
of  the  northern  boundary  merge  into  the  sands  of  Western  Sudan  and  the  Sahara. 

The  Diversity  of  types  and  density  of  population  are  the  distinctive  qualities 
People  of  the  Native  peoples  of  Nigeria.  In  comparison  with  other  parts  of  Africa, 
the  number  of  people  to  the  square  mile  in  many  parts  of  Nigeria  is  unusu- 
ally large.  The  average  density  for  Southern  Nigeria  is  approximately  100  persons  per 
square  mile,  whereas  that  of  Northern  Nigeria  is  about  35.  The  map,  page  151,  shows 
the  greatest  density  to  be  in  the  southeastern  provinces.  Onitsha,  with  a  population 
of  180  per  square  mile,  has  the  highest.  Owerri,  with  167,  Calabar  with  139,  and  Ogoja 
with  130,  are  next  in  the  order  of  density  of  population.  The  only  other  provinces  with 
more  than  100  persons  to  the  square  mile  are  Kano  in  Northern  Nigeria  and  the  colony 
proper,  including  the  city  of  Lagos.  Even  the  traveler  is  impressed  with  the  populous 
character  of  the  country.  On  the  automobile  roads  from  Onitsha  to  the  Cross  River, 
the  members  of  the  Commission  were  amazed  by  the  number  and  frequency  of  the  vil- 
lages. Likewise  from  the  decks  of  the  boats  on  the  Niger  and  on  the  Cross  River, 
village  after  village  and  groups  of  even  city  dimensions  were  seen.  The  Native  city 
of  Ibadan,  with  a  population  variously  estimated  at  175,000  to  450,000,  and  the  city 
of  Abeokuta,  with  about  150,000,  are  probably  the  largest  Native  groups  in  Africa. 
These  and  a  number  of  other  large  aggregations  of  Native  people  to  be  seen  from  rail- 
roads, roads,  and  rivers,  all  indicate  the  unusual  density  of  population  in  Southern 
Nigeria  and  in  the  province  of  Kano  in  Northern  Nigeria.  It  would  be  interesting  to 


148 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


ascertain  the  causes  of  the  varying  densities,  in  the  different  provinces.  Sir  Fred- 
erick Lugard  comments  as  follows : 

The  population  of  the  north — described  60  years  ago  by  Barth  as  the  densest  in  all  Africa — had  by  1900 
dwindled  to  some  nine  millions,  owing  to  intertribal  war,  and,  above  all,  to  the  slave  raids  of  the  Fulani. 
But  these  dreaded  horsemen  could  not  penetrate  the  forests  of  the  south,  where  a  population  estimated  at 
seven  and  three-quarter  millions  (probably  an  overestimate)  found  refuge. 

Another  and  probably  more  effective  factor  is  the  superior  food-producing  possibilities 
of  the  soil  and  waters  of  the  southern  regions. 

The  diversity  of  peoples,  tribes,  and  languages  is  of  even  greater  interest  than  the 
density  of  population.  There  is  first  of  all  the  great  difference  between  the  Mohamme- 
dan peoples  in  the  northwest  and  the  numerous  tribes  of  the  south  and  east.  The  tall 
Hausa  people  with  their  flowing  white  robes  and  their  oriental  customs  seem  almost 
un-African  to  the  traveler  accustomed  to  the  Negroes  of  the  African  coast  or  America. 
The  following  statements  from  the  "Report  on  the  Amalgamation  of  Northern  and 
Southern  Nigeria"  present  a  significant  picture  of  the  population  elements: 

From  a  very  early  date  the  influence  of  Islam  had  made  itself  felt  in  the  north,  and  the  religious  revival 
of  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  had  formed  the  motive  for  the  Fulani  conquests,  which  swept 
the  country  from  Sokoto  in  the  northwest  to  Yola,  1,000  miles  to  the  east,  and  from  the  Sahara  to  the  confines 
of  the  Equatorial  Belt.  The  social  and  religious  organization  of  the  Koran  supplemented,  and  combined 
with,  the  pre-existing,  and  probably  advanced,  form  of  tribal  administration  handed  down  from  the  powerful 
Songhay  Empire,  which  had  extended  from  Chad  to  Timbuktu.  The  courts  were  served  by  judges  erudite  in 
Moslem  law  and  fearless  in  its  impartial  application.  The  system  of  taxation  was  highly  developed,  and  the 
form  of  administration  highly  centralized. 

A  rapid  deterioration  had,  however,  followed  the  decay  of  the  religious  zeal  which  had  prompted  the 
Fulani  Jihad,  and  at  the  time  when  the  administration  was  assumed  by  the  Imperial  Government  in  1900 
the  Fulani  Emirates  formed  a  series  of  separate  despotisms,  marked  by  the  worst  forms  of  wholesale  slave- 
raiding,  spoliation  of  the  peasantry,  inhuman  cruelty,  and  debased  justice.  The  separate  dynasty  of  Bornu 
on  the  Chad  plain  had  fallen  before  the  armies  of  Rebeh  from  Wadai,  who  at  this  time  was  looting  and 
ravaging  the  country.  The  primitive  pagan  races  held  their  own  in  the  inaccessible  fastnesses  of  the  moun- 
tainous districts  of  the  plateau  or  in  the  forests  bordering  the  Benue  River.  Others  had  come  under  the 
domination  of  the  ruling  race  and  lived  a  hard  life. 

The  south  was,  for  the  most  part,  held  in  thrall  by  fetish  worship  and  the  hideous  ordeals  of  witchcraft, 
human  sacrifice,  and  twin  murder.  The  great  Ibo  race  to  the  east  of  the  Niger,  numbering  some  three 
millions,  and  their  cognate  tribes  had  not  developed  beyond  the  stage  of  primitive  savagery.  In  the  west, 
the  Kingdom  of  Benin — like  its  counterpart  in  Dahomey — had  up  to  1897  groaned  under  a  despotism  which 
revelled  in  holocausts  of  human  victims  for  its  fetish  rites.  Further  west  the  Yorubas,  Egbas,  and  Jebiis  had 
evolved  a  fairly  advanced  system  of  government  under  recognized  rulers.  The  coast  fringe  was  peopled  by 
Negro  traders  and  middlemen,  who  had  acquired  a  smattering  of  education  in  mission  schools,  and  who 
jealously  guarded  the  approaches  to  the  interior  from  the  European  merchant.  In  the  principal  towns  (Lagos, 
Calabar,  etc.)  there  were  some  few  educated  Native  gentlemen  who  practised  as  doctors,  barristers,  etc. 

For  present  purposes  it  is  important  to  note  the  following  population  conditions 
based  upon  the  above  statements  and  the  Census  of  1911 : 

1.  Northern  Nigeria  has  a  Mohammedan  population  numbering  almost  6,000,000. 
The  Fulani  are  said  to  be  a  superior  people  of  unknown  origin,  who,  though  compara- 
tively few  in  number,  have  long  exercised  great  power  in  northwestern  Nigeria.  Recent 
students  of  their  history  assert  that  the  coming  of  the  British  really  saved  them  from 
overthrow  by  the  Hausa  masses  whom  they  ruled. 


NIGERIA 


149 


2.  Northern  Nigeria  has  also  over  3,000,000  primitive  non-Mohammedan  tribes, 
who  occupy  the  Bauchi  and  other  phiteaus  in  the  northeast  section.  Among  these, 
Christian  missions  have  been  working  for  a  number  of  years. 

3.  Southern  Nigeria  is  divided  into  two  large  population  groups.  The  western 
provinces  are  occupied  by  the  Yoruba  people,  about  2,000,000  in  number  and  speaking 
one  language.  The  central  and  eastern  provinces  with  a  population  of  almost  6,000,- 
000,  include  the  great  Ibo  people,  about  3,000,000  in  number,  and  numerous  smaller 
groups,  representing  about  one  hundred  tribes  and  seventy-five  languages.  Some  of 
these  tribes  include  a  fairly  large  number  of  people.  The  Ibibios  and  Sobos  each  have 
over  200,000.  Four  other  tribes  have  over  100,000;  fourteen  tribes  have  over  50,000, 
and  seventeen  tribes  have  over  20,000. 

The  Ibo  people  are  noted  for  their  achievements  in  war.  They  have  undoubtedly 
been  the  great  force  against  the  advancement  of  the  Mohammedan  tribes  from  the 
north.  Even  to  this  day  they  are  said  to  forbid  these  people  to  settle  in  their  country. 
Just  as  the  Fulani  people  have  had  unusual  power  among  the  Hausa  people  in  North- 
ern Nigeria,  so  there  are  the  Aro  people  among  the  Ibo  groups  who  through  subtlety 
and  craft  have  exercised  a  strange  influence  over  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  Iboes. 
This  power  was  largely  destroyed  in  1902,  when  the  British  military  forces  penetrated 
the  country  and  placed  dynamite  under  the  Aro-Fetish  in  the  northwest  section  of 
Calabar  Province. 

4.  The  population  elements  of  the  city  of  Lagos,  as  reported  in  the  1911  Census, 
present  significant  evidence  of  the  migration  movements  within  the  territory  of  Nigeria. 
Of  the  75,000  people  in  the  municipality,  73,000  were  Natives  of  West  Africa,  600 
were  Europeans,  50  Asiatics,  and  500  were  from  other  parts  of  Africa.  Of  the  73,000 
West  Africans,  about  48,000  are  of  the  Yoruba  people  and  only  1,400  from  the  central 
and  eastern  provinces,  whereas  there  were  3,500  Hausas,  2,000  I]orins,and  900  Nupes. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  the  small  number  of  Natives  from  the  central  and  eastern 
provinces  and  the  comparatively  large  numbers  from  both  the  Mohammedan  and 
pagan  people  of  Northern  Nigeria.  The  larger  groups  from  other  West  African  colo- 
nies are  2,600  Kru  men  from  Liberia,  1,000  Sierra  Leonians,  and  700  from  the  Gold 
Coast.  The  character  of  the  Lagos  population  is  further  revealed  in  the  classification 
according  to  religion.  In  1911  the  Mohammedans  constituted  49  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation, the  Christians  29  per  cent,  and  pagans  22  per  cent.  The  large  proportion  of 
Mohammedans  seems  incredible.  It  is  probably  explained  by  the  presence  of  many 
traders  from  Northern  Nigeria. 

The  quotation  from  the  report  of  Sir  Frederick  Lugard  refers  to  the  "educated 
Natives  in  the  coast  fringe."  While  the  number  of  these  men  and  women  is  small, 
they  exert  considerable  influence  on  the  affairs  of  the  country.  A  few  of  them  own  much 
property  and  carry  on  large  business  undertakings.  A  number  of  them  are  professional 
men,  lawyers  and  physicians,  educated  in  the  schools  of  Great  Britain.  There  are  two 
Native  bishops  of  the  Church  of  England  and  several  clergymen  of  this  and  other 
churches.  About  10,000  persons  in  Lagos  are  reported  as  able  to  read  and  write  and 
about  3,000  others  can  read.   The  educated  Natives  are  in  great  demand  for  the  cleri- 


150 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


cal  work  of  commercial  concerns  and  the  government.  They  are  rendering  important 
services  throughout  Nigeria,  wherever  government,  business,  or  mission  activities  are 
carried  on. 

Tlie  vital  statistics  for  the  Native  population  are  very  Hmited.  The  one  figure 
available  is  the  infant  mortality  for  the  city  of  Lagos.  This  was  350  for  1918.  This 
rate,  in  comparison  with  that  of  75  to  100  in  European  or  American  cities,  is  very  high. 
In  view  of  the  difiiculty  of  assembling  facts  concerning  the  Native  population,  it  is 
probable  that  even  this  high  rate  is  considerably  below  the  actual  death  rate.  In  the 
interior,  where  European  health  regulations  are  not  effective,  the  number  of  deaths 
is  undoubtedly  far  greater.  The  following  statement  from  the  Nigeria  Handbook  for 
1919  indicates  the  emphatic  need  for  education  related  to  hygiene  and  health: 

Among  the  Natives  the  most  common  diseases  are  pneumonia,  diarrhoea,  anaemia,  neuralgia,  and 
rheumatic  affections.  Syphilis  and  gonorrhoea  are  common  diseases  all  over  the  country  and  "helmenthic 
infections  are  so  prevalent  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  Native  who  does  not  harbor  one  at  least  of  the 
three  most  common  parasites.  The  percentage  of  the  population  infected  with  ankylostomiasis  is  very  high, 
probably  over  80  per  cent  in  certain  areas."  A  mild  form  of  sleeping  sickness  is  endemic  in  certain  parts  of 
the  Niger  delta  and  along  the  banks  of  the  River  Benue,  which  are  infested  with  the  tsetse  fly.  Beri-beri  is 
fairly  prevalent  in  the  Cross  River  districts,  and  there  is  a  good  deal  of  leprosy  along  the  banks  of  the  lower 
Niger  and  in  certain  inland  towns.  There  are  occasional  sporadic  outbreaks  of  yellow  fever  and  smallpox. 
.\t  the  end  of  1918  there  was  a  severe  epidemic  throughout  the  country  of  Spanish  influenza. 

The  There  are  no  adequate  measures  of  the  remarkable  economic  possibilities 

Country  of  this  great  Nigerian  empire.  Reference  has  been  made  in  the  early 
paragraphs  of  this  chapter  to  the  vast  areas  of  forests,  plains,  and  high- 
lands capable  of  maintaining  large  populations.  Mention  has  also  been  made  of  the 
numerous  rivers  and  streams  providing  facilities  for  drainage,  irrigation,  and  naviga- 
tion. The  coast  indentation  and  rivers  offer  harbors  for  shipping  that  are  unusual  in 
number  for  the  west  coast  of  Africa.  Some  measure  of  the  extent  to  which  the  re- 
sources of  the  country  have  been  developed  is  ofifered  by  the  following  statement  of 
exports  for  1919: 

Pahn  kernels,  £5,000,000;  pahn  oil,  £4,250,000;  raw  cotton,  £500,000;  tin  ore,  £l,325,000;  cocoa, 
£l,100,000;  hides  and  skins,  £l, 260,000;  ground  nuts,  £700,000. 

The  total  value  of  the  exports  for  1919  was  almost  £15,000,000,  whereas  in  1910 
the  value  was  only  £5,250,000.  This  rapid  increase  in  exports,  even  in  spite  of  the 
difficulties  of  the  Great  War,  is  only  an  indication  of  what  Nigeria  will  undoubtedly 
produce  within  the  next  few  years.  The  mineral  wealth  of  the  colony  is  well  known. 
The  production  of  tin  ore  is  increasing  every  year.  Geological  surveys  have  shown 
that  the  ore  extends  over  an  area  of  9,000  square  miles  in  Northern  Nigeria  and  that 
some  deposits  are  found  in  Southern  Nigeria.  A  good  quality  of  coal  has  been  found 
and  the  government  is  mining  it  with  much  success.  There  are  still  other  minerals 
whose  possibilities  will  doubtless  be  developed  in  the  near  future. 

As  in  every  other  African  colony,  the  greatest  opportunities  are  in  agriculture, 
including  not  only  the  products  of  the  soil  but  also  livestock.  Given  an  eflFectively 
equipped  department  of  agriculture  and  a  school  system  developing  interest  in  and 
knowledge  of  the  soil,  Nigeria  would  produce  a  great  wealth  of  agricultural  products. 


r 


152 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Tlie  climate  varies  greatly  from  the  moist  tropical  heat  of  the  coast  to  the  dry 
heat  of  the  high  plateaus  in  the  northern  sections.  In  the  higher  altitudes  the  climate 
is  said  to  be  agreeable  and  even  invigorating.  The  following  quotation  from  the  Niger- 
ian Handbook  gives  the  more  important  facts: 

Except  perhaps  on  the  plateau,  the  Nigerian  climate  is  not  a  healthy  one  for  Europeans,  and  Nigeria 
shares  with  the  rest  of  West  Africa  an  unenviable  reputation  in  this  respect.  The  seasons  are  as  a  rule  well 
defined.  The  "dry  season"  with  its  attendant  "Ilarmattan"  commences  in  the  north  of  the  country  in 
October  and  ends  in  April.  It  is  of  shorter  duration  in  the  south,  and  at  Lagos  generally  lasts  from  November 
to  March,  with  only  intermittent  "Harmattan."  The  "Harmattan"  is  a  dry  northeasterly  wind  which 
brings  with  it  a  thick  haze  composed  of  minute  particles  of  dust.  During  the  "Harmattan"  the  nights  and 
early  mornings  are  cold,  but  the  days  are  very  hot,  and  it  is  during  this  period  that  the  maximum  diurnal 
variations  occur. 

Generally  speaking,  the  lowest  mean  temperature  is  recorded  in  the  months  of  July  and  August,  and  the 
lowest  minimum  temperature  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  year.  The  highest  mean  and  maximum 
temperatures  are  as  a  rule  recorded  in  March  and  April.  In  most  cases  the  difference  in  range  between  the 
maximum  and  minimum  temperature  is  greater  in  proportion  to  the  distance  of  a  station  from  the  coast. 

At  the  end  of  the  "dry  season"  numerous  tornadoes  herald  the  approach  of  the  "rainy  season."  Before 
a  tornado  the  air  is  oppressively  close  and  heavy;  the  tornado  itself,  which  is  scarcely  more  than  a  heavy 
squall,  lasts  but  a  short  time  and  is  accompanied  and  followed  by  a  thunderstorm  and  rain.  The  "rainy 
season"  lasts  until  October,  with  a  slight  break  in  August,  and  is  followed  by  another  short  tornado  season. 
In  the  south  the  prevailing  wind  during  this  season  is  from  the  southwest,  and  with  it  comes  the  rain,  which 
is  remarkably  heavy  along  the  coast  and  decreases  rapidly  as  it  travels  inland. 

European  The  introduction  and  development  of  British  rule  in  Nigeria  is 

Organizations     outlined  in  the  following  extract  from  Sir  Frederick  Lugard's 
memorandum : 

The  British  Government,  which  had  maintained  a  Consul  at  Lagos  since  1852,  obtained  the  cession  of 
the  island  in  1861  with  the  sole  object  of  putting  an  end  to  the  overseas  slave  traffic.  In  the  following  years 
the  abandonment  of  all  West  African  settlements  was  contemplated,  and  any  extension  of  responsibilities 
with  the  interior  was  vetoed.  It  was  not  therefore  until  the  "Scramble  for  Africa"  which  followed  the 
Berlin  Act  of  1885  that  any  steps  were  taken  to  secure  the  coast  line  from  Lagos  to  the  Cameroons  and  to 
establish  a  claim  to  the  hinterland  as  a  British  "sphere  of  influence."  This  area  was  then  placed  under  the 
Consular  jursidiction  of  the  Foreign  Office  (under  the  name  of  the  Oil  Rivers  Protectorate),  to  whom  also  the 
Royal  Niger  Chartered  Company,  who  were  endeavoring  to  open  up  the  districts  bordering  the  Niger,  were 
responsible.  Colonial  Office  control  remained  limited  to  Lagos  Colony.  It  was  not  imtil  1893-4  that,  in 
consequence  of  friction  with  France,  the  Foreign  Office  was  compelled  to  champion  the  cause  of  the  Niger 
Company  and  to  declare  a  Protectorate  over  the  Niger  territories.  The  Oil  Rivers  then  became  the  Niger 
Coast  Protectorate.  With  the  advent  of  Mr.  Chamberlain  to  the  Colonial  office  in  1895,  British  West  Africa 
entered  on  a  new  era.  British  influence  was  extended  into  the  Lagos  hinterland.  The  "French  crisis"  was 
brought  to  a  close  by  the  Convention  of  June,  1898,  and  steps  were  taken  to  buy  out  the  charter  of  the  Niger 
Company.  This  was  completed  on  January  1,  1900,  and  the  Governments  of  Northern  and  Southern 
Nigeria  were  created.  The  former  included  all  territory  north  of  Lat.  7°  10'  and  the  latter  the  old  Niger  Coast 
Protectorate,  with  the  addition  of  such  parts  of  the  company's  territory  as  lay  to  the  south  of  that  line. 
Lagos  formed  a  third  administration. 

The  extension  of  British  influence  and  the  organization  of  governmental  authority 
in  Nigeria,  from  1898  to  the  present  time,  form  a  significant  story  of  the  subjugation 
of  selfish  slave-raiders  and  despotic  Mohammedan  Emirs  in  the  northern  areas  and  the 
overthrow  of  subtle  powers  of  fetishistic  priests  and  rulers  in  southeastern  Nigeria. 

In  1914  Northern  and  Southern  Nigeria  were  amalgamated  under  one  governor 


NIGERIA 


153 


with  a  lieutenant-governor  appointed  by  the  King  for  each  province.  The  Executive 
Council  includes  the  important  officers  of  both  provinces.  The  Nigerian  Council  is  an 
advisory  and  deliberate  body  consisting  of  the  leading  government  officials  and  the 
following  non-officials:  Representatives  of  Lagos  and  Calabar  Chambers  of  Commerce; 
a  member  of  the  Cliamberof  Mines;  three  Europeans;  and  six  Natives  nominated  by 
the  Governor.  The  Lagos  Legislative  Council  includes  the  Governor,  with  six  official 
and  four  unofficial  members. 

Southern  Nigeria  is  divided  into  ten  provinces,  including  the  British  Cameroons. 
Northern  Nigeria  contains  twelve  provinces.  Each  province  is  under  the  control  of  a 
Resident  with  various  subordinate  officers.  The  Residents  are  the  local  representa- 
tives of  the  central  government  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  Natives 
and  the  province.  Their  activities  vary  according  to  the  extent  to  which  the  Native 
rulers  are  capable  of  managing  the  problems  of  local  government. 

Every  member  of  the  Education  Commission  was  impressed  by  the  experience, 
ability,  and  character  of  the  British  officers  in  Nigeria.  The  Governor,  Sir  Hugh  Clif- 
ford, is  a  statesman  of  international  reputation,  who  began  his  experience  in  colonial 
service  as  a  young  man  in  the  Malay  Peninsula.  He  is  an  administrator  of  unusual 
ability,  a  writer  of  recognized  attainments,  and,  best  of  all,  he  has  a  sympathetic  and 
clear  understanding  of  the  strength  and  weakness  of  the  Native  people  over  whom  he 
rules.  The  Provincial  Residents  of  the  provinces  visited  were  men  of  culture  and  abil- 
ity, who  were  able  to  speak  the  native  languages  and  thus  establish  intimate  contacts 
with  the  people.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  the  special  contributions  of  former  gov- 
ernors to  the  development  of  the  country.  Governor  Egerton,  1907-1912,  believed  in 
roads  and  realized  his  belief  in  miles  and  miles  of  excellent  highways  through  important 
areas.  Governor  Lugard,  1912-1919,  through  his  years  of  military  experience  in  North- 
ern Nigeria,  had  a  real  insight  into  the  problems  of  government.  Native  and  European. 
On  the  basis  of  this  experience  he  brought  about  the  amalgamation  of  the  two  great 
areas  under  one  governor.  His  extension  of  railways  and  water  transportation  also 
constituted  important  items  in  the  progress  of  the  colony. 

The  following  statement  of  governmental  expenditures  for  the  year  1918  gives  some 
measure  of  the  government  activities  in  that  year: 

Total  expenditures   £3,459,774 

1.  Education,  agriculture,  health  £241,018 

Education,    £45,747;   forestry   and  agriculture, 
£59,262;  health,  sanitation,  etc.,  £136,009. 

2.  Territorial    administration,    including    the  British 
Cameroons   223,044 

3.  Military,  police,  and  prisons   441,254 

Nigerian  Regiment,  £258,636;  police,  £88,402; 
prisons,  £94,216. 

4.  Public  works,  railways,  marine,  posts  and  telegraphs  1,385,141 

Marine,  £266,991;  railways,  £794,217;  posts  and 
telegraphs,  £91,226;  survey,  £22,277;  public  works, 
£210,430. 


154 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Expenditures  under  the  various  heads  have  evidently  been  planned  with  as  much 
regard  as  possible  for  their  relation  to  the  weKare  of  the  Native  people.  The  total 
expenditures  in  1918  were  a  little  over  £3,500,000.  In  1919  this  amount  was  increased 
to  about  £4,500,000.  In  general,  the  proportions  for  the  four  groups  were  practically 
the  same  in  the  two  years. 

The  first  group  of  expenditures,  for  education,  agriculture,  and  health,  are  £240,000, 
or  about  seven  per  cent  of  the  total.  The  £45,000  spent  for  education  is  about  one  per 
cent  of  the  total.  Even  with  the  addition  of  the  activities  for  health  and  agriculture, 
this  sum  for  education  seems  exceedingly  small. 

Expenditures  in  the  second  group  include  the  salaries  and  expenses  of  the  Governor, 
Residents,  judges,  and  secretariat,  who  administer  the  government.  The  direct  influ- 
ence of  the  Residents  upon  Native  welfare  is  very  great.  The  high  type  of  officials 
engaged  in  these  functions  of  government  is  a  guarantee  of  the  civilizing  and  educa- 
tional value  of  the  work. 

The  third  group  of  expenditures  represent  the  cost  of  the  military,  pohce,  and 
prisons.  In  view  of  the  primitive  character  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  population, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  the  amount  is  fairly  large.  The  training  of  the  Native  soldiers 
and  police  is  usually  educational.  The  contact  of  these  trained  men  with  their  own 
Native  people  makes  for  law  and  order,  a  condition  absolutely  essential  to  the  ex- 
istence of  schools  and  other  civilizing  agencies. 

In  the  fourth  group  of  expenditures  are  the  appropriations  for  the  development  of 
railroads,  highways,  rivers  and  harbors,  posts  and  telegraphs,  and  public  works,  in- 
cluding bridges  and  buildings  necessary  to  the  government  of  Nigeria.  Almost  one- 
third  of  the  total  expenditure  of  government  was  for  these  purposes.  With  the  vast 
areas  of  land  and  waterways,  and  the  pioneer  character  of  a  government  seriously 
instituted  only  within  the  past  twenty-five  years,  these  important  expenditures  are 
necessary  to  every  effort  for  the  development  of  the  people  and  the  country.  Probably 
the  most  important  result  of  this  type  of  expenditure  has  been  the  construction  of 
1,110  miles  of  railroads  and  many  hundred  miles  of  highways,  the  dredging  of  harbor 
entrances  for  ocean  liners,  and  the  maintenance  of  river  traffic.  In  all  of  this  large 
construction  work.  Natives  have  received  a  training  that  is  educational  not  only  in 
mechanical  skill  but  also  in  mind  and  character. 

The  occupational  division  of  the  Eiu"opean  population  provides  some  idea  of  the 
relative  influence  of  the  three  important  groups  in  Nigeria.  In  1919,  the  total  number 
of  Europeans  was  approximately  2,800,of  whom  about  1,200  were  government  officials, 
1,250  were  in  commercial  concerns  and  mining,  and  350  were  missionaries.  The  activi- 
ties of  the  government  have  been  outlined;  those  of  the  missionaries  will  be  described 
later  under  education.  It  is  evident  that  the  commercial  personnel,  more  numerous 
than  that  of  the  government  or  Missions,  represents  an  influence  of  real  significance 
in  the  country.  Members  of  this  group  may  be  seen  in  all  the  important  centers  of 
population  and  often  even  in  points  considerably  removed  from  the  routes  of  travel. 
Everywhere  they  are  training  Native  youth  as  helpers.  The  natxire  of  their  influence 
varies  with  their  own  character  and  interest  in  the  people.   The  extent  of  their  com- 


NIGERIA 


155 


mercial  activities  is  indicated  in  the  statement  of  exi)orts,  amounting  to  nine  and  a 
half  million  pounds  Sterling  in  1918,  outlined  elsewhere,  and  also  in  the  imports,  ag- 
gregating seven  and  a  half  million  pounds  Sterling  in  1919,  The  values  of  the  principal 
imports  were  as  follows : 


Cotton  goods,  woolens,  silk,  and  wearing  apparel   £3,250,000 

Coopers'  stores   1,025,000 

Bags  and  sacks   250,000 

Salt   312,000 

Kola  nuts   200,000 

Iron  and  steel   140,000 

Tobacco,  cigars  and  cigarettes   300,000 

Spirits   165,000 

Soap   130,000 


With  the  development  of  the  mining,  agricultural,  and  commercial  possibilities  of 
the  country,  the  number  of  Europeans  will  increase.  The  government  recognizes  the 
important  place  of  this  group  in  Nigeria  by  the  provision  for  representation  of  the  Lagos- 
Calabar  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Chamber  of  Mines  on  theNigerian  Council.  With 
his  usual  discernment  and  frankness.  Sir  Frederick  Lugard  has  expressed  his  convic- 
tion that  the  officers  of  commerce  and  industry  should  arrange  for  a  more  intimate  and 
real  participation  in  the  life  of  the  country.  The  following  statement  was  made  as  a 
comment  upon  the  assertion  of  the  Liverpool  Chamber  of  Commerce  that  their  agents 
in  Africa  are  not  authorized  to  advise  the  government : 

The  day  has  passed  when  the  West  African  merchant  can  remain  in  England  and  expect  to  conduct  the 
trade  of  a  country  in  which  he  has  never  resided,  possibly  never  even  visited  for  many  years,  if  at  all,  and 
regarding  which  he  is  dependent  for  first-hand  information  on  the  agents  whose  responsibility  to  government 
he  denies.  Such  methods  of  carrying  on  business — peculiar,  I  think,  to  West  Africa — are  no  longer  appro- 
priate now  that  the  conditions  of  health  and  the  amenities  of  life  have  so  greatly  improved.  The  merchants 
who  gain  wealth  from  Nigeria  have  a  duty  to  the  country,  which  transcends  the  task  of  safeguarding  their 
purely  personal  interests.  It  is  the  duty  and  privilege  of  the  leading  unofficials  in  a  crown  colony  to  assist 
the  government  with  their  advice.  In  Nigeria  they  have  a  special  opportunity  in  the  Nigerian  Council, 
whose  debates  are  not  confined  to  special  items  of  legislation.  Of  what  value  in  debate  can  the  views  of  local 
agents  be  when  they  are  not  allowed  to  give  information  without  the  consent  of  their  principals  in  England, 
who  may  repudiate  their  opinions?  There  are  partial  exceptions  to  this  rule,  but  in  practice  matters  of  im- 
portance are  frequently  held  up,  at  the  urgent  instance  of  merchants,  for  discussion  when  the  Governor  is  in 
England.  In  other  parts  of  the  Empire  the  managing  director  is  on  the  spot,  and  I  would  invite  West 
African  merchants  to  consider  whether  it  has  not  now  become  necessary  to  conduct  their  business  on  similar 
lines,  if  they  desire  to  meet  competition,  and  to  have  a  voice  in  the  legislation  and  policy  of  the  country  in 
which  their  profits  are  made. 

11.  EDUCATION 

The  educational  activities  in  Nigeria  are  almost  as  diverse  as  the  racial  groups  and 
the  geographical  units.  While  there  are  a  few  effective  schools  in  the  country,  the 
educational  facihties  are  notably  inadequate  both  in  extent  and  in  adaptation  to  the 
needs  of  the  people.  A  general  measure  of  this  inadequacy  is  presented  by  the  fact  that 
of  3,500,000  youth  of  school  age,  only  100,000  are  in  any  kind  of  school.  With  all 
possible  allowance  for  the  undeveloped  condition  of  both  country  and  people  and  also 


156 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


for  the  comparatively  brief  period  of  European  influence,  the  present  educational 
condition  of  Nigeria  requires  the  emphatic  attention  of  government,  merchants,  and 
missions. 

Missionaries  have  been  working  with  heroic  devotion  for  over  fifty  years  in  many 
parts  of  Southern  Nigeria.  Small  beginnings  have  also  been  made  by  missions  among 
the  pagan  tribes  of  northeastern  Nigeria.  Officers  of  the  government  have  in  recent 
years  begun  to  give  serious  consideration  to  the  value  of  education.  This  is  notably 
true  of  Sir  Frederick  Lugard  and  Sir  Hugh  Clifford,  the  present  governor.  Their 
estimates  of  educational  conditions  and  needs  in  Nigeria  are  strikingly  parallel .  Both 
agree  that  present  facilities  are  utterly  insufficient  and  unsuited  to  the  needs  of  the 
people.  Both  assert  that  education  is  fundamental  to  the  successful  development  of 
Nigeria.  Under  the  leader.ship  of  Sir  Hugh  Clifford  there  is  every  hope  for  substantial 
advances  in  educational  activities. 

The  government  administers  education  by  a  Director  for  Southern  Nigeria  and 
another  for  Northern  Nigeria.  The  population  groups  described  in  Part  I  of  this 
chapter  indicate  the  more  significant  divisions  of  educational  conditions  and  needs. 
Southern  Nigeria  includes  the  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  of  the  colony,  the  two 
milhon  of  the  Yoruba  population  of  the  western  province,  the  three  million  of  the  Ibo 
tribes  of  the  central  and  eastern  provinces,  and  the  miUion  and  a  half  of  Calabar  and 
Cameroons  in  the  southeast.  Northern  Nigeria  includes  the  six  million  Mohammedan 
population  of  the  northwest  and  the  three  million  non-Mohammedans  in  the  northeast. 

Southern  Nigeria 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Department  of  Education  for  1919,  the  total  number 
of  government  and  assisted  schools  in  Southern  Nigeria  was  212,  with  an  enrollment 
of  30,000  pupils.  Of  these,  43  schools,  with  an  enrollment  of  5,000  pupils,  were  owned 
and  maintained  by  the  government, and  169  schools,  with  25,000  pupils,  were  owned  by 
missions  and  received  government  grants.  In  addition  to  these  schools,  whose  stand- 
ards of  work  are  approved  by  the  government,  there  are  said  to  be  approximately 
1,000  small  schools,  with  about  60,000  pupils,  whose  standards  of  organization  and 
work  do  not  merit  recognition  by  the  government.  A  few  of  these  schools  are  doing 
effective  work,  but  the  large  majority  are  of  very  Uttle  value  educationally.  This 
official  summary  proves  the  inadequacy  of  the  schools  to  exert  any  measurable  in- 
fluence over  the  million  and  half  children  of  school  age. 

The  concentration  of  these  limited  facilities  in  the  coast  regions,  and  especially  in 
the  Lagos  colony,  emphasizes  the  discouraging  aspects  of  the  situation.  The  Lagos 
colony  has  the  following  schools: 

Kings  College,  a  secondary  school  owned  and  maintained  by  the  government 
15  Church  Missionary  Society  schools,  with  4,500  pupils 
12  Roman  Catholic  schools,  with  1,700  pupils 

7  Wesleyan  Society  schools,  with  1,300  pupils 

3  Native  African  Society  schools,  with  620  pupils 

3  Moslem  schools,  with  560  pupils 


NIGERIA 


157 


It  appears  then  that  40  schools,  with  8,500  pujiils,  constituting  a  fifth  of  the  assisted 
schools  of  Southern  Nigeria,  are  in  the  city  of  Lagos.  Even  with  this  concentration, 
however,  the  school  facilities  are  not  adequate  for  the  city  of  Lagos,  with  14,000  youth 
of  school  age,  and  much  less  for  the  Lagos  colony,  with  35,000. 

A  study  of  the  type  of  educational  activities  further  deepens  the  disappointment  in 
the  schools  of  Southern  Nigeria.  There  are  a  few  excellent  types  of  schools  and  one 
very  good  school  system.  The  effective  system  is  that  of  the  Scottish  Missions,  with  the 
Calabar  hoarding  schools  for  girls  and  Hope-Waddell  School  for  hoys.  Other 
schools  with  features  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  pupils  are  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  school  for  girls  at  Umudioka,  near  Onitsha,  the  training  school  for  boys  at 
Oyo,  and  the  Wesleyan  Training  School  for  boys  at  Ibadan.  The  boarding  schools  for 
girls  are  practically  all  fairly  well  adapted  to  the  training  of  the  young  women.  The 
Roman  Catholic  Girls'  School  in  Lagos  is  especially  well  managed.  The  Slessor 
Memorial  Home  for  Girls  at  Aro  Chuku  represents  a  unique  type,  entirely  based  on 
the  life  of  the  native  girls.  With  these  exceptions  and  a  few  others,  the  larger  and  more 
central  schools  make  very  little  provision  for  the  training  of  teachers  or  leaders  to  im- 
prove the  condition  of  the  native  people.  Kings  College,  the  only  government  second- 
ary school,  has  arranged  its  curriculum  to  prepare  the  pupils  to  pass  the  Oxford  or 
Cambridge  University  matriculation  examination.  All  the  larger  boys'  schools  in 
Lagos  are  on  a  similar  basis. 

Government  Education 

The  government  expenditures  for  current  educational  expenses  in  1919  are  reported 
to  be  £26,000.  About  £12,500  is  for  the  43  government  schools  and  £13,500  for  the 
aid  of  169  mission  schools.  The  total  enrollment  in  the  43  government  schools  was 
5,000.  Kings  College,  with  an  enrollment  of  100  young  men  and  seven  teachers,  is  the 
only  school  of  secondary  grade.  The  work  is  effective.  The  institution  makes  no 
provision  for  training  teachers  and  lacks  a  boarding  department.  Effort  has  been  made 
to  provide  teacher-training  at  Bonny  and  Warri  schools  in  the  central  provinces,  but 
the  results  have  not  been  satisfactory.  The  remaining  schools  are  primary  in  grade. 
The  teaching  in  the  Mohammedan  schools  visited  was  very  poor.  There  were  fourteen 
teachers  of  carpentry  in  the  government  system. 

Reference  has  been  made  in  Part  I  to  the  educational  contributions  of  various 
departments  of  the  government,  especially  the  departments  of  Public  Works,  Health, 
and  Agriculture.  The  Director  of  Agriculture  makes  the  following  interesting 
statement : 

I.  Instruction  on  Farms  and  in  Towns — Given  to  chiefs  and  other  farmers  by  European  officers  aided  by 
native  agricultural  instructors.  Includes  cultivation  of  crops  and  the  harvesting  and  treatment  of  prepared 
products  such  as  cacao,  coffee,  and  rubber.  Cotton  is  especially  important  in  the  western  division,  and  in- 
struction is  concerned  chiefly  with  its  cultivation  and  the  picking  and  cleaning  of  seed-cotton.  The  existence 
of  native  agricultural  societies  helps  much  in  all  this  work. 

II.  Instruction  in  Experimental  Stations  and  Model  Plots — There  are  at  present  four  experimental 
stations:  At  Ibadan,  Calabar,  Onitsha,  and  Agege;  whilst  model  plats  are  smaller  in  scale  and  situated 
usually  at  or  near  district  headquarters.  It  is  hoped  that  increase  of  staff  will  enable  the  native  farmer  to  be 
brought  into  more  intimate  contact  with  these  stations  and  plats. 


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III.  Training  of  Pupils — This  is  done  at  the  experimental  stations.  The  pupils  are  indentured  to  the 
department  for  five  years,  provided  with  quarters  and  paid  a  salary;  and  if  they  are  satisfactory  they  are 
offered,  at  the  end  of  their  training,  posts  as  agricultural  instructors.  They  are  given  lectures  on  the  subjects 
of  Johnson's  Elementary  Tropical  Agriculture  (sec  below)  and  training  in  farming  and  planting,  being  put 
whilst  under  training  into  subordinate  responsible  positions  in  the  station  as  they  gain  knowledge. 

IV.  Lectures  to  Teachers — Each  course,  in  two  parts,  is  completed  in  a  year,  the  lectures  being  given 
during  vacation.  The  subjects  are  those  of  Johnson's  Elementary  Tropical  Agriculture,  special  attention 
being  given  to  nature  study  for  elementary  schools  with  the  aid  of  school  gardens. 

V.  School  Gardens — Agricultural  officers  give  demonstrations  and  advice  for  the  work  in  the  gardens 
themselves,  helping  teachers  to  apply  what  they  have  learned  in  lecture.  Logging  or  reporting  the  visits  puts 
on  record  information  assisting  the  teacher  to  carry  on.  Teachers  and  pupils  are  encouraged  to  visit  the 
experimental  stations  and  model  plats  for  instruction. 

W.  Publications — The  chief  publications  of  the  Agricultural  Department  are  pamphlets  (such  as  those 
on  pests  and  diseases),  leaflets  (on  growing  crops  and  preparing  produce),  the  Annual  Report  and  Johnson's 
Elementary  Tropical  Agriculture  (sold  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society  Bookshop,  Lagos),  which  is 
largely  a  paraphrase  of  Watts'  Native  Teaching  (Imperial  Department  of  Agriculture  for  the  West  Indies) 
adapted  to  local  conditions.  The  pamphlets  and  leaflets  usually  possess  editions  in  the  chief  native  languages. 

VII.  Agricultural  Shouts — This  important  work  has  received  much  interference  in  recent  years  through 
the  unavoidable  lack  of  staff. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  began  work  in  the  western  provinces  in  1845 
and  soon  extended  to  the  great  cities  of  Abeokuta  and  Ibadan.  The  Rev.  Samuel 
Crowther,  a  Native  African,  was  appointed  Bishop  of  the  Anglican  Church  in  1864. 
The  influence  of  the  society  has  extended  throughout  the  western  provinces  and  into 
the  central  province,  north  and  east  of  Onitslia  on  the  Niger  River.  Mission  stations 
are  also  maintained  among  the  pagan  tribes  of  northeastern  Nigeria. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Department  of  Education  for  1919,  the  Anglican 
Society  had  74  government-assisted  schools  and  171  non-assisted  schools.  The  assisted 
schools  have  been  able  to  attain  to  the  government  requirements  for  financial  aid. 
Nevertheless  many  of  them  are  ineffective  and  limited  in  equipment.  The  total  enroll- 
ment is  11,300.  The  171  non-assisted  schools,  with  a  reported  enrollment  of  11,000 
pupils, are  of  uncertainvalue.  Someof  them  are  rendering  useful  service,but  the  major- 
ity are  poorly  taught  and  of  little  educational  influence. 

The  Mission  reports  indicate  a  much  larger  number  of  "branch  "  or  "bush"  schools 
than  that  given  above  for  non-assisted  schools.  According  to  these  reports,  the  Yoruba 
Missions  have  225  branch  schools  and  the  Niger  or  Ibo  missions  have  315  branch 
schools.  These  divergencies  probably  indicate  the  existence  of  a  very  large  number  of 
little  mission  stations  practically  unsupervised  and  unknown  to  the  officers  of  the 
society.  All  of  this  indicates  the  inadequacy  of  the  supervision  of  the  outstation 
schools. 

The  central  stations  of  supervision  and  their  larger  schools  are  as  follows: 

The  Lagos  Church  Missionary  Society  Schools 

The  Grammar  School  for  Boys  has  one  European  teacher  and  12  African  teachers. 
The  enrollment  is  400,  of  whom  38  are  boarders.  The  curriculum  provides  for  instruc- 


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tion  from  Standard  I  through  the  forms  required  for  the  Oxford  or  Cambridge 
local  examinations. 

The  Girls  Seminary  has  a  teaching  staff  of  three  European  and  twelve  African 
women.  The  enrollment  is  220  girls,  of  whom  20  are  boarders.  The  curriculum 
includes  six  standards,  with  instruction  in  methods  of  teaching  for  pupils  and  pupil- 
teachers.  After  completing  their  experience  the  students  are  admitted  to  the  Normal 
Department  for  further  instruction.  The  girls  do  all  the  housework  of  the  school 
except  cooking.  On  Saturdays  they  have  practical  instruction  in  cooking.  The  school 
is  hampered  by  poor  buildings  and  equipment,  though  some  improvement  in  buildings 
is  being  made. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  Bookshop  is  distinctly  educational  in  its  effect. 
It  is  a  well-stocked  book  store,  conducted  on  a  commercial  basis.  Through  wise 
selection  of  books  and  printed  material  for  school  use  and  through  efficient  service  to 
the  public,  the  bookshop  makes  a  notable  contribution  to  the  educational  development 
of  western  and  central  Nigeria. 

The  Lagos  colony  has  thirteen  other  Anglican  schools,  with  a  total  enrollment  of 
almost  4,000  pupils.  These  are  all  receiving  financial  assistance  from  the  government 
and  are  therefore  required  to  maintain  the  standards  of  assisted  schools. 

The  Oyo  Province  Church  Missionary  Society  Schools 

St.  Andrews  Training  College,  located  in  a  rural  area  of  the  western  provinces,  is 
one  of  the  important  schools  of  Nigeria.  The  organization  of  this  institution  by 
Bishop  and  Mrs.  Melville  Jones  is  a  real  educational  achievement  in  Nigeria.  The 
teaching  staff  includes  two  Europeans  and  five  natives.  There  are  in  attendance  100 
young  men  preparing  to  be  teachers  and  catechists.  There  are  two  preparatory  classes 
in  elementary  subjects,  two  classes  in  teacher-training,  and  two  classes  for  training 
catechists.  The  pupils  from  the  preparatory  classes  usually  spend  some  time  as  pupil- 
teachers  in  village  schools  before  entering  the  advanced  course.  The  work  of  the 
institution,  including  care  of  gardens  and  buildings,  is  done  entirely  by  the  pupils. 
There  is,  however,  very  little  systematic  instruction  in  manual  arts  and  agriculture. 
The  pupils  show  a  keen  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  native  people  and  a  strong  desire 
to  work  as  teachers  and  catechists  in  their  behalf.  The  simple  buildings  of  the  insti- 
tution are  attractively  arranged  on  a  large  expanse  of  land  divided  into  gardens, 
orchard,  playgrounds,  and  school  commons. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  Girls'  School  in  the  city  of  Ibadan  has  a  teaching 
staff  of  two  European  and  four  African  women.  The  enrollment  is  about  90  girls,  of 
whom  30  are  boarders.  The  curriculum  covers  five  standards.  Some  provision  is 
made  for  the  preparation  of  the  girls  in  care  of  the  home.  Considerable  attention  is 
also  paid  to  the  best  features  of  native  music  and  native  dancing.  The  buildings  and 
equipment  are  seriously  in  need  of  repairs  and  additions. 

The  Anglican  Boys'  School  in  the  city  of  Ibadan  is  owned  and  managed  by  the 
Native  church.  The  teachers  are  all  Africans.  There  are  75  boys  in  attendance,  of 
whom  20  are  boarders.  The  curriculum  provides  instruction  through  five  elementary 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


standards  and  three  years  beyond  the  fifth  standard.  The  discipHne  and  instruction 
are  fairly  good. 

There  are  other  schools  of  importance  in  the  province,  notably  in  Abeokuta,  where 
the  Anglican  Boys'  School  has  a  large  enrollment. 

The  Central  Provinces  Church  Missionary  Society  Schools 

From  their  headquarters  in  the  city  of  Onitsha  on  the  Niger  River  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  officers  supervise  many  small  outschools  and  the  larger  schools 
herein  described.  As  the  supervision  of  the  small  schools  is  very  limited,  it  is  not 
possible  to  be  certain  even  of  their  number.  The  best  available  estimate  puts  the 
number  at  about  300. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  Girls'  Training  School,  located  in  the  open  country 
ten  miles  from  Onitsha,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  effective  schools  visited  in 
Africa.  The  teaching  staff  includes  two  European  and  six  African  women.  One 
hundred  girls  are  enrolled,  all  boarders.  Seventy  of  the  pupils  are  distributed  through 
six  standards  of  regular  instruction.  The  pupil  teachers  remain  for  about  three  years 
of  teaching  experience.  The  other  thirty  are  young  women  in  what  may  be  called  a 
"short  course"  of  two  years.  They  are  betrothed  to  young  men  who  contribute  to 
their  expenses  at  the  school.  They  are  living  in  a  separate  compound  within  the  school 
grounds.  They  receive  some  instruction  in  the  usual  school  subjects  and  considerable 
training  in  the  care  of  the  home,  gardening,  and  activities  related  to  their  home  com- 
munities. The  school  program  for  both  groups  of  girls  is  notable  for  its  use  of  every 
school  need  for  educational  purposes.  The  school  plant  is  simple  but  comfortable. 
The  dormitories  are  rows  of  one-room  structures,  made  of  rich  brown  clay  polished 
within  and  without  until  they  glisten  in  the  sun. 

The  lyi  Enu  Hospital,  located  about  four  miles  from  Onitsha,  provides  hospital 
and  clinical  facilities  and  an  opportunity  for  training  nurses.  This  is  an  excellent 
institution,  exerting  a  wide  influence  and  conducted  at  surprisingly  low  expense.  The 
staff  consists  of  Miss  Elms,  an  unusually  capable  European  officer,  and  four  native 
nurses  whom  she  has  trained.  Before  the  war  there  were  also  two  English  physicians. 
There  were  60  indoor  patients,  of  whom  30  were  men  and  30  were  women  and 
children.  The  weekly  visits  of  the  clinical  patients  were  several  hundred  in  number. 
The  plant,  very  simple,  but  well  adapted  to  the  needs,  includes  two  wards,  two  small 
buildings,  and  a  residence  for  Miss  Elms. 

The  Awlca  Training  College,  located  about  twenty  miles  from  Onitsha,  is  designed 
to  train  teachers  and  religious  workers.  At  the  time  of  visit  the  institution  was  in  a 
formative  period.  Though  there  are  three  Europeans  assigned  to  the  work,  only  one 
man  was  present.  The  attendance  was  about  twenty  young  men,  equally  divided  into 
two  classes  receiving  instruction  in  religious  work.  The  plant  consists  of  two  sub- 
stantial buildings  and  some  smaller  structures. 

In  the  city  of  Onitsha,  the  Church  Missionary  Society  maintains  a  boys'  day- 
school,  with  an  enrollment  of  about  300  pupils,  distributed  through  six  standards. 
The  plant  consists  largely  of  simple  open  pavihons  covered  with  mat  roof.  Several 


NIGERIA 


161 


classes  are  taught  in  different  parts  of  the  same  open  paviHon  and  some  out  of  doors  in 
the  shade  of  trees.  At  the  time  of  visit  there  were  also  in  attendance  some  120 
pupil-teachers  from  various  village  schools,  who  had  come  to  receive  a  few  days'  in- 
struction in  preparation  for  the  government  teachers'  examination. 

The  Onitsha  Industrial  School  is  made  possible  by  gifts  of  Liverpool  merchants  who 
believe  in  the  industrial  education  of  the  Native  youth.  It  is  not  under  the  supervision 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  but  there  is  a  friendly  cooperation  between  the 
director  and  the  officers  of  the  mission  society.  The  instruction  is  given  by  the 
European  director,  who  has  considerable  skill  in  several  mechanical  pursuits.  The 
present  plan  is  to  admit  Native  boys  who  have  finished  the  fourth  standard.  They  are 
accepted  as  apprentices  to  learn  carpentry  or  automobile  repairing.  The  director 
states  that  the  plan  is  not  working  effectively  because  the  boys  are  attracted  to  more 
remunerative  employment  before  they  have  learned  a  trade.  The  plant  consists  of  two 
buildings,  considerable  equipment,  and  a  residence  for  the  European  teacher.  It  seems 
evident  that  the  school  should  be  connected  with  an  institution  offering  a  general 
education. 

Niger  Delta  Pastorate 

The  lower  or  delta  areas  of  the  Niger  River  have  been  assigned  to  Niger  Delta 
Pastorate,  an  organization  of  the  Anglican  Church,  directed  and  maintained  financially 
by  African  members  of  the  Anglican  Church.  The  leadership  of  the  work  is  vested  in 
the  Rev.  A.  W.  Howells,  a  native  African,  who  was  recently  consecrated  Assistant 
Bishop  in  London.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  Year  Book  reports  that  "the 
Pastorate  has  been  financially  prosperous  and  bids  fair  to  be  still  more  so,  but  the  moral 
conditions  among  scattered  congregations  in  the  Niger  Delta  cause  great  searchings  of 
heart."  The  Government  Director  of  Education  reports  188  non-assisted  schools,  with 
about  10,000  pupils,  for  the  Pastorate.  It  is  probable  that  the  supervision  of  these 
schools  is  not  adequate. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Mission 

The  Roman  Catholic  Mission  is  maintaining  important  educational  activities  in 
Lagos  and  in  the  western,  central,  and  eastern  provinces.  According  to  the  report 
of  the  Government  Director  of  Education  for  1919,  this  mission  had  42  government- 
assisted  schools,  with  an  enrollment  of  6,700  pupils,  and  419  non-assisted  schools,  with 
an  enrollment  of  about  20,000  pupils.  The  large  central  schools  are  usually  well- 
staffed  with  European  officers  and  Native  teachers.  The  assisted  schools  are  fairly 
well  supervised  and  correspondingly  effective,  but  the  non-assisted  schools  are  of 
limited  value  educationally.  The  central  stations  and  their  larger  schools  are  as  follows : 

Lagos  Roman  Catholic  Schools 

St.  Gregory  Grammar  School  for  Boys  is  under  the  supervision  of  an  English 
Father,  assisted  by  four  Native  teachers.  The  enrollment  is  66  day  pupils  in  three 
classes,  requiring  the  completion  of  six  standards  of  elementary  instruction  for 


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admission.  Though  the  subjects  are  largely  of  the  literary  type,  the  pupils  manifested 
considerable  interest  in  agriculture.  The  classes  occupy  rooms  in  a  large  compound 
of  substantial  buildings,  where  there  are  also  many  pupils  in  six  elementary  standards. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Convent  for  Girls  has  a  staff  of  six  European  Sisters.  The 
enrollment  consists  of  155  girls,  of  whom  25  are  boarders.  The  course  includes  the  usual 
elementary  subjects,  and  needlework,  cooking,  and  laundry.  The  teaching  is  effective 
and  educational  use  is  made  of  the  boarding  department  and  other  activities  of  the 
school  compound. 

The  Lagos  colony  includes  ten  other  Roman  Catholic  schools,  with  a  total  enroll- 
ment of  1,500  i)upils.  All  but  three  are  sufficiently  well  taught  and  equipped  to  obtain 
government  assistance. 

Western  Province  Roman  Catholic  Schools 

The  Roman  Catholic  Mission  has  a  number  of  schools  in  the  western  provinces. 
An  institution  for  the  training  of  Native  priests  has  been  begun  in  the  city  of  Ibadan. 
The  course  in  this  school  will  require  about  twelve  years  of  instruction.  There  are  also 
five  small  assisted  schools  in  Abeokuta. 

Central  Province  Roman  Catholic  Schools 

Onitsha  is  the  Roman  Catholic  headquarters  of  a  number  of  schools  among  the  Ibo 
people.  The  Mission  offices  occupy  a  considerable  area  overlooking  the  Niger  River  in  a 
very  attractive  part  of  the  city.  According  to  report,  the  land  was  originally  Ibo 
burjang  ground  and  held  in  awe  by  the  Native  people,  who  gladly  gave  it  years  ago  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  mission.  On  these  grounds  there  are  three  well-constructed  build- 
ings. One  is  the  residence  of  the  three  Fathers  and  the  center  of  administration. 
Another  large  building  is  divided  equally  between  church  and  school.  The  school  half 
is  divided  by  mats  into  six  sections,  one  for  each  of  the  six  standards.  The  two  stand- 
ards above  the  sixth  are  taught  in  another  building,  the  upper  part  of  which  was 
formerly  occupied  by  Sisters.  The  school  is  supervised  by  one  European  Father  and 
taught  by  Native  teachers.  Much  emphasis  is  placed  upon  instruction  in  English. 
There  is  practically  no  instruction  in  manual  training  or  agriculture.  A  little  gardening 
is  done.  A  few  of  the  pupils  receive  experience  in  building  when  any  of  the  institutions 
are  increasing  their  plants.  The  advanced  pupils  have  a  fair  appreciation  of  the  needs 
of  their  people.  There  are  other  Roman  Catholic  day  schools  in  Onitsha  and  many 
small  "branch"  schools  throughout  the  province.  One  Father  spends  a  large  part  of 
his  time  visiting  these  schools.  It  has  not  been  possible  to  obtain  statistics  concerning 
this  rural  work. 

Calabar  Roman  Catholic  Schools 

There  are  two  large  Roman  Catholic  schools  in  the  town  of  Calabar,  one  for  boys 
and  one  for  girls.  The  boys'  school,  with  several  hundred  day  pupils,  is  supervised  by 
a  European  Father,  assisted  by  several  Native  teachers.  There  is  practically  no  pro- 
vision for  manual  training.   The  convent  school  is  under  the  supervision  of  three 


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European  Sisters.  It  enrolls  150  girls,  of  whom  about  1.5  are  boarders.  The  work  i.s 
well  done.  The  activities  of  the  central  and  eastern  provinces  are  under  the  direction 
of  Bishop  Shanahan,  who  resides  at  Onitsha.  The  Bishop  is  widely  recognized  for  his 
spirit  of  cooperation  and  sound  ideas  of  education. 

The  Scottish  Mission 

The  work  of  the  important  Scottish  Mission  was  begun  in  1846  by  the  Rev.  Hope 
Waddell  of  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  He  was  sent  by  a  European  congrega- 
tion of  the  Scottish  Church  in  Jamaica  to  work  among  the  barbaric  people  of  Old 
Calabar,  then  the  center  of  considerable  slave  traffic  between  white  traders  and  the 
black  people  of  the  region.  He  was  followed  by  a  number  of  able  men  and  women, 
including  Mary  Slessor,  the  famous  Scottish  missionary,  who  exerted  a  very  remark- 
able influence  upon  the  dense  population  of  southeastern  Nigeria.  These  pioneer 
activities  preceded  the  entrance  of  the  British  Government  and  prepared  the  way  for 
governmental  influences  that  now  prevail  throughout  the  province. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Government  Director  of  Education  for  1919,  there 
are  29  government-assisted  schools,  with  an  enrollment  of  5,000  pupils,  and  169 
non-assisted  schools,  with  8,500  pupils.  This  system  of  schools  is  noted  for  its  well- 
planned  organization  and  effective  supervision.  The  important  medical  work 
formerly  carried  on  by  the  Scottish  Mission  is  now  seriously  hampered  by  inability  to 
have  European  physicians  in  sufficient  number.  The  important  features  of  the  system 
are  as  follows: 

1.  The  division  of  southeastern  Nigeria  among  the  various  missions  on  the  basis 
of  ten  years'  outlook  of  mission  development.  The  larger  missions,  including  the 
Scottish,  the  Primitive  Methodists,  and  the  Qua  Iboe  Mission,  have  united  in  this 
agreement.  This  eliminates  all  duplication  and  misunderstanding  and  places  definite 
responsibility  on  each  mission  group. 

2.  The  Scottish  Mission  has  subdivided  its  territory  educationally  and  placed 
a  central  school  with  a  European  supervisor  in  charge  of  each  district.  Before  the 
war  about  half  of  the  supervisors  were  men.  At  present  they  are  all  women,  well 
trained  in  educational  methods  and  in  religious  instruction.  Each  supervisor  has  charge 
of  fifteen  to  twenty  "branch"  schools  taught  by  Native  men,  who  have  had  some 
training  as  teachers.  The  plan  requires  that  the  supervisor  shall  visit  each  school  once 
every  four  to  six  weeks  and  also  assemble  the  teachers  at  the  central  station  every 
Friday  afternoon  for  two  hours'  instruction  in  elementary  subjects,  teaching  methods, 
and  the  special  problems  of  the  district. 

3.  The  Hope- Waddell  Institution  for  young  men,  the  Edgerley  Memorial  for 
young  women,  and  the  Creek  Town  School  for  young  women  have  been  developed  as 
the  central  training  institutions  for  the  system. 

4.  Possibly  the  most  significant  factor  in  the  system  is  the  number  of  Euro- 
pean workers.  At  present  there  are  47,  of  whom  18  are  men  and  29  are  women. 
Of  the  men,  ten  are  either  ordained  ministers  or  physicians,  and  eight  are  laymen 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


trained  in  mechanics,  education,  or  business.  Of  the  women,  seventeen  are  unmarried 
workers  trained  in  school  methods  or  in  rehgious  work,  and  twelve  are  the  wives  of 
missionaries.  Nearly  all  the  wives  are  also  trained  workers  rendering  valuable  service. 

The  system  thus  organized  is  conducted  with  the  thoroughness  and  conscientious 
regard  for  details  for  which  the  Scotch  people  are  noted.  The  results  are  seen  in  the 
sound  construction  of  buildings,  the  regularity  of  the  activities,  the  accuracy  of  the 
reports,  but  most  of  all  in  the  character  of  the  human  products  of  the  system  and  the 
condition  of  the  native  communities  where  the  schools  are  located.  The  loss  of  workers 
during  the  war  and  the  increasing  responsibilities  of  the  Mission  have  made  inroads  on 
the  quality  of  work,  however.  There  is  much  room  for  improvement  and  modification, 
but  the  Mission  is  working  according  to  a  plan  that  is  economical  and  effective.  The 
larger  institutions  are  as  follows: 

Hope-W addell  Training  Institution 

This  institution,  located  in  the  city  of  Calabar,  was  founded  in  1895  for  the  edu- 
cation of  Native  boys.  The  staff  consists  of  nine  European,  three  Jamaican,  and  23 
Native  teachers  and  workers.  The  Europeans  are  the  principal,  vice-principal,  head- 
master, three  carpenters,  one  printer,  one  machinist,  and  the  manager  of  the  book 
store.  The  other  workers  are  three  Jamaican  teachers,  one  Native  teacher  of  tailoring, 
and  numerous  Native  teachers  and  workers.  The  total  number  of  pupils  at  the  time  of 
visit  was  about  400,  of  whom  200  were  boarders. 

The  academic  instruction  includes  six  standards,  a  small  secondary  department, 
at  present  only  one  class,  and  a  normal  department  of  two  years.  The  normal  course 
is  offered  to  pupils  who  have  completed  six  standards,  have  served  two  years  as  pupil- 
teachers,  passing  the  government  examination  at  the  end  of  each  year,  and  then  serve 
one  year  as  assistant  teachers.  This  is  equivalent  to  about  thirteen  years  of  school 
work,  both  as  teacher  and  pupil.  The  instruction  includes  courses  in  hygiene,  gar- 
dening, a  small  amount  of  elementary  science,  and  methods  of  teaching. 

The  trade  courses  require  five  years  as  apprentices.  Pupils  entering  the  trades 
must  have  completed  four  standards.  Some  instruction  in  book  subjects  is  given  in 
the  evening.  The  hours  of  trade  work  are  from  seven  to  eleven  and  from  two  to  half 
past  four.  The  facilities  of  each  trade  department  are  suflScient  to  train  five  pupils  each 
year,  but  the  number  of  pupils  in  each  trade  is  much  less  than  this  number  at  present. 
During  the  first  year  the  pupils  receive  no  pay;  the  second  year  they  receive  one 
shilling  a  week,  and  they  are  increased  one  shilling  a  week  for  each  of  the  succeeding 
years.    The  aim  of  the  trade  course  is  to  prepare  journeymen. 

The  supervision  of  the  dormitories  is  exceedingly  careful.  High  standards  of 
cleanliness  and  order  are  maintained.  The  principal  or  vice-principal  visits  the  dormi- 
tories at  the  retiring  hour  each  night.  A  prize  shield  is  given  to  the  dormitory  that 
maintains  the  best  standards  of  order  and  the  highest  standard  of  cleanliness.  The 
cooking  is  done  by  a  Native,  supervised  by  a  Native  woman  with  some  education. 

The  school  occupies  a  very  attractive  site  on  top  of  the  first  of  the  three  hills  back 
of  the  Calabar  stores  on  the  edge  of  the  river.  The  buildings  are  arranged  in  a  hollow: 


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165 


square.  On  the  side  next  to  the  river  there  are  four  substantial  cottages  for  a  part  of 
the  staff.  Another  side  is  composed  of  the  school  rooms  in  a  two-story  frame  building. 
The  boys'  dormitories  form  a  part  of  this  same  side,  the  whole  of  another  side,  and  a 
portion  of  the  fourth  side.  These  are  one-story  buildings,  divided  according  to  the  age 
and  size  of  the  boys.  The  remainder  of  the  fourth  side  is  occupied  by  the  kitchen  and  a 
two-story  building  which  contains  the  dining-room,  printing  office,  tailor-shop,  book- 
store, and,  on  the  second  floor,  quarters  for  the  staff.  Three  other  comfortable  cottages 
for  members  of  the  staff  are  built  outside  of  the  square.  There  is  also  an  isolation 
hospital,  janitor's  lodge,  and  carpentry  shop,  and  the  ruins  of  the  chapel,  recently 
destroyed  by  fire.  The  school  land  extends  over  what  may  be  called  the  fourth  hill  on 
the  up-river  side.  A  school  garden  of  substantial  size  is  securely  protected  by  fence. 
The  area  of  land  is  adequate  for  teaching  agriculture  in  an  experimental  way.  Down 
at  the  edge  of  the  river  there  is  what  is  called  the  "Beach  House,"  where  motor 
engineering  and  a  knowledge  of  machinery  are  taught  to  selected  pupils.  This  is  the 
landing  place  and  warehouse  for  all  mission  goods. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  highly-trained  Scotch  mechanics  now  devoting  all  their 
skill  to  the  training  of  a  very  small  number  of  five-year  apprentices  may  be  assigned  to 
give  at  least  part  of  their  time  to  arrangements  for  imparting  some  manual  training  of  a 
practical  character  to  the  four  hundred  boys,  of  whom  many  are  to  be  teachers  in 
rural  areas.  The  five-year  apprentices  are  likely  to  become  the  employees  of  white 
commercial  concerns.  While  this  is  a  desirable  end,  it  is  even  more  important  to  help 
the  Native  people  in  their  small  mechanical  needs.  Similarly  the  rural  character  of 
the  coimtry  requires  educational  workers  prepared  in  agricultm-e.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  institution  will  soon  provide  a  department  of  agriculture,  so  that  some  of 
the  young  men  may  specialize  in  scientific  farming. 

Edgerley  Memorial  School  for  Girls 

This  school,  located  in  Calabar,  was  founded  1905  by  Miss  Chelmers,  the  present 
principal.  The  staff  consists  of  two  European  and  seven  native  workers.  The  native 
workers  are  one  certificated  teacher,  four  pupil  teachers,  a  matron,  and  a  laundress. 
The  enrollment  consists  of  about  100  girls,  of  whom  70  are  boarders.  The  course  pro- 
vides six  standards.  All  the  work  of  the  institution  is  done  by  the  girls  and  every 
activity  is  used  for  educational  purposes.  Each  girl  is  assigned  to  house  duties  and 
changed  to  other  tasks  every  two  weeks.  One  unique  feature  is  that  of  sending  two  girls 
to  market  with  the  entire  responsibility  of  making  the  best  use  of  the  money  allotted 
for  the  purpose.  The  dormitory  facihties  receive  careful  attention.  The  school  com- 
pound is  in  the  form  of  a  hollow  square.  The  front  of  the  square  is  the  residence  for  the 
European  workers.  The  remaining  three  sides  are  one-story  buildings  used  as  dormi- 
tories, class-rooms,  and  work-rooms. 

Creek  Town  Normal  School  for  Girls 

The  school  oflFers  six  standards  of  instruction  and  two  years  of  teacher-training  to 
young  women  who  have  served  as  pupil-teachers  and  assistant  teachers.  The  staflF 


166 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


consists  of  three  European  and  several  Native  workers.  The  enrollment  consists  of 
80  girls,  of  whom  40  are  boarders.  Under  the  direction  of  the  teachers,  the  girls  do  all 
the  work  of  the  institution  and  all  the  activities  are  educational  in  their  influence. 
Miss  McKinney,  the  principal,  is  very  ingenious  in  using  the  native  products  in  the 
school  work.  The  influence  of  the  school  on  the  community  is  noteworthy. 

Aro  Chuku  School-Home  for  Girls 

This  school  home  was  founded  and  organized  by  Mrs.  Arnott  of  the  Scottish 
Mission.  Her  plan  is  to  break  down  the  prejudice  of  the  Aro  people  against  the  edu- 
cation of  girls.  She  is  attracting  into  the  home  girls  who  for  various  reasons  are  free 
from  the  prevailing  prejudice.  A  number  of  them  are  sent  by  Native  teachers  who  have 
selected  them  to  be  their  wives.  Others  are  orphans.  One  is  a  bhnd  girl.  For  the  latter, 
a  scheme  of  Aro  letters  has  been  devised,  and  this  is  being  taught  to  the  girl  by  the  blind 
system.  The  plan  is  to  have  in  the  home  only  a  few  girls  so  that  they  may  have 
intensive  training  in  all  the  features  of  home  life.  At  present  there  are  only  twelve  girls. 
The  full  number  will  not  be  more  than  twenty-five.  The  principal  does  all  the  work  of 
teaching  and  managing.  Under  her  direction  the  girls  do  all  the  housework,  including 
washing,  cooking,  and  gardening.  They  sleep  in  several  little  mud  rooms  on  elevated 
platforms  made  of  clay.  They  eat  in  a  room  exclusively  devoted  to  that  purpose.  The 
daily  round  of  duties,  instruction,  and  play  is  very  simple  and  carefully  supervised. 
Another  European  worker  devotes  all  of  her  time  to  the  women  of  the  neighborhood. 
This  worker  instructs  groups  of  the  women  who  come  to  the  schoolroom,  and  visits  them 
in  their  homes.  The  school  plant  consists  of  a  mud  building  with  thatched  roof  in  which 
the  European  workers  live.  There  is  also  a  school  building  divided  into  two  parts,  one 
for  the  girls  and  one  for  the  women.  The  girls'  rooms,  kitchen,  and  washrooms  are 
arranged  on  three  sides  of  a  square.  Mrs.  Arnott  plans  to  keep  the  girls  in  the  school 
only  two  years,  but  a  number  of  the  girls  are  at  present  so  young  as  to  require  a  much 
longer  period.  The  institution  has  obtained  valuable  help  from  the  government.  It 
has  succeeded,  for  example,  in  obtaining  a  large  number  of  fruit  trees,  including  a  con- 
siderable variety  of  fruits,  and  the  garden,  which  the  school  is  developing,  will  later 
afford  an  excellent  demonstration  to  the  community  of  what  can  be  done  with  the  soil. 
It  is  a  matter  of  doubt,  however,  whether  this  home-school  can  continue  with  the  small 
number  in  attendance.  The  probability  is  that  the  pressure  for  education  by  a  large 
number  of  girls  will  in  the  course  of  time  necessitate  the  enlargement  of  the  school. 
This  can  be  done  without  serious  loss  to  the  work.  The  principal  and  her  associates 
deserve  great  credit  for  the  excellent  plans  they  are  executing  and  for  their  fortitude  in 
enduring  the  swarms  of  mosquitoes  and  sandflies  that  make  life  miserable  so  much 
of  the  time. 

Duke  Town  Day  School 

The  Duke  Town  Day  School  has  been  described  by  Sir  Hugh  Clifford  as  "the  best 
institution  of  its  kind  in  Nigeria."  The  Education  Commission  has  not  observed  a 
better  institution  of  the  same  type  anywhere  in  Africa.  The  principal  is  a  native  of 


NIGERIA 


167 


Jamaica,  assisted  by  two  other  Jamaicans;  a  fourth  is  on  leave.  The  sixty  Native 
teachers  are  in  three  groups:  (1)  The  pupil-teachers,  who  have  successfully  finished  six 
standards;  (2)  The  assistant  teachers,  who  have  finished  six  standards,  served  two  years 
as  pupil-teachers,  and  passed  examinations  at  the  end  of  each  year;  (3)  Certificated 
teachers,  who  have  completed  the  requirements  of  pupil  and  assistant  teachers,  studied 
two  years  in  teacher-training  classes,  and  passed  the  government  examination  for 
teachers.  The  principal  has  general  charge  of  the  school  and  special  supervision  of  the 
higher  standard.  One  of  the  Jamaicans  has  charge  of  the  infant  department  and  garden- 
ing. The  third  specializes  in  woodworking.  Each  certificated  teacher  has  charge  of  one 
standard  with  several  pupil-teachers,  each  teaching  a  section  of  the  standard.  The 
enrollment  averages  1,300  pupils.  The  course  of  instruction  covers  six  standards  with 
unusual  stress  on  hygiene,  gardening,  and  woodworking. 

The  plant  consists  of  the  following:  A  frame  building  with  six  rooms  for  the  infant 
department;  an  L-shaped  building  of  cement  blocks  with  six  rooms  for  the  sections  of 
Standard  I  and  II;  a  two-story  building  of  cement  blocks  with  eight  class-rooms  for 
Standards  III  to  VI  inclusive;  a  separate  building  for  administration;  another  frame 
building  for  woodworking,  and  two  large  spaces  for  gardens.  The  total  value  of  the 
plant  is  £12,000. 

Wesleyan  Mission 

The  schools  of  the  Wesleyan  Mission  are  among  the  Yoruba  people  of  the  western 
provinces.  According  to  the  1919  report  of  the  Government  Director  of  Education, 
the  Mission  has  22  schools  rated  as  worthy  of  government  assistance  and  25  non-assisted 
schools.  The  assisted  schools  have  an  enrollment  of  2,500  pupils  and  the  non-assisted 
schools  have  about  1,000  pupils.  The  Mission  reports  indicate  a  total  of  about  100 
schools  with  about  5,600  pupils,  a  considerably  larger  total  than  that  given  by  the 
Director  of  Education.  The  British  workers  are  eleven  in  number.  Superintendent 
Griffin  of  this  Mission  has  been  in  the  colony  for  many  years  and  is  regarded  as  an 
authority  on  the  Yoruba  language.  Owing  to  the  comparatively  small  number  of 
Europeans,  the  supervision  of  the  smaller  schools  has  not  been  effective.  The  school 
work  is  further  limited  by  inadequate  equipment.  The  teaching  in  the  interior  schools, 
especially  in  Ibadan,  is  fairly  well  related  to  the  needs  of  the  pupils.  The  Wesleyan 
property  in  the  city  of  Lagos  is  on  one  of  the  most  desirable  sites  of  the  city.  The 
larger  central  schools  are  the  Boys'  High  School  and  the  Girls'  High  School  in  Lagos 
and  the  Training  Institute  in  the  city  of  Ibadan  in  the  interior. 

The  Boys'  High  School  in  Lagos  has  a  European  superintendent  and  eight  Native 
teachers,  about  half  of  whom  have  had  but  limited  training.  There  are  185  boys  in 
attendance,  of  whom  8  are  boarders.  The  curriculum  includes  Standards  III  to  VI, 
with  two  classes  above  Standard  VI.  The  emphasis  of  the  instruction  is  literary.  Latin 
and  French  are  offered  in  the  upper  classes.  The  classes  meet  in  one  poorly  constructed 
building  with  only  palm-leaf  mats  to  separate  the  various  groups.  Plans  for  a  much- 
needed  building  are  now  under  way. 

The  Girls'  High  School  in  Lagos  is  under  the  supervision  of  three  European  women, 
ten  Native  teachers,  and  four  pupil-teachers.  The  pupil-teachers  are  allowed  some 


168 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


financial  compensation  and  receive  instruction  in  advanced  studies  at  night.  The  enroll- 
ment consists  of  175  girls,  of  whom  10  are  boarders.  The  course  includes  six  standards, 
with  additional  instruction  for  pupil-teachers.  Some  lessons  in  cooking  and  sewing  are 
given.  The  supervision  of  the  European  teachers  is  effective  and  the  buildings  are  clean. 
While  the  building  is  much  better  than  that  for  the  boys,  it  is  seriously  in  need  of 
repairs. 

The  Ibadan  Training  Institution  has  a  teaching  staff  consisting  of  a  European  man 
and  his  wife,  a  European  assistant,  and  some  Native  helpers.  The  enrollment  consists 
of  45  young  men,  all  boarders.  The  curriculum  includes  Standards  V  and  VI  as  pre- 
paration for  the  secondary  normal  department  of  two  standards.  For  further  instruc- 
tion pupils  are  required  to  teach  under  supervision  in  day-schools  for  periods  of  one  or 
two  years  and  then  return  to  the  institution  for  two  more  years,  to  be  devoted  entirely 
to  teacher-training  courses.  The  educational  activities  are  related  to  the  needs  of  the 
pupils.  All  the  work  of  the  institution  is  done  by  the  pupils.  A  large  garden  is  culti- 
vated and  the  grounds  are  kept  in  good  condition.  The  plant  is  adequate  for  the 
present  activities.  The  pupils  sleep  on  mats  in  mud  huts  of  one  room  each.  There  are 
two  to  four  pupils  to  a  room.  Dormitory  and  dining-room  facilities  are  supervised. 
The  institution  is  developing  effectively. 

Primitive  Methodist  Society 

The  missions  and  schools  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Society  are  in  the  southeastern 
section  of  Nigeria,  an  area  containing  over  half  a  million  Native  people.  The  Society 
began  its  African  work  in  the  Island  of  Fernando  Po  and  came  to  Nigeria  in  1893. 
Hitherto  the  officers  of  the  Mission  have  not  sought  government  aid  because  they  have 
desired  to  avoid  the  government  requirement  of  higher  standards  of  education. 
Education  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  an  incident  to  evangelization.  There  is  now 
a  tendency  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  educational  activities  to  include  the  training  of  native 
Christian  leaders  who  can  interpret  the  Christian  religion  in  its  deeper  applications  to 
the  life  of  the  people.  The  government  reports  only  72  non-assisted  schools.  The 
Society  reports  280  "bush"  schools, with  230  Native  teachers  and  about  10,000  pupils. 
The  policy  of  the  Mission  requires  supervision  of  these  schools  by  the  European 
workers.  As  the  number  of  Europeans  is  only  about  twelve,  it  is  evident  that  the 
supervision  is  necessarily  very  inefiFective.  The  central  schools  comprise  the  Boys' 
Institute  at  Aron,  with  a  European  principal  and  six  native  assistants,  and  an  en- 
rollment, as  reported  by  the  Society ,of  from  45  to  50  boys;  and  the  Girls'  Institute  at 
Jamestown,  reported  to  have  three  European  women  teachers  and  about  40  pupils. 

Qua  Iboe  Mission 

The  Qua  Iboe  Mission  is  a  British  Society  organized  in  1887  with  headquarters  in 
Belfast,  Ireland.  Its  purpose  is  the  evangelization  of  tribes  living  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Qua  Iboe  River  in  southeastern  Nigeria.  The  government  reports  21  non-assisted 
schools,  with  about  1,000  pupils.  Educational  provisions  are  very  limited.  It  is  re- 


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ported  that  the  Society  is  endeavoring  to  strengthen  its  educational  work  for  the 
preparation  of  Native  teachers  who  can  relate  religion  to  the  life  of  the  people. 

American  Southern  Baptist  Society 

The  mission  of  the  American  Southern  Baptist  Society  represents  the  white 
Baptist  churches  of  the  southern  states  in  America.  The  interest  of  the  Southern 
Baptists  in  Nigeria  dates  from  1854,  when  they  sent  a  mission  to  the  coast  region. 
During  the  American  Civil  War  the  work  was  discontinued.  About  1905  the  Society 
revived  its  work,  sending  a  number  of  Canadian  Baptists  to  the  western  provinces  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Oyo,  Ogbomosho,  and  Abeokuta.  During  the  past  five  years 
educated  men  and  women  from  the  southern  states  have  been  sent  as  missionaries  of 
health,  education,  and  religion.  At  present  the  Baptists  are  spending  considerable 
money  in  the  erection  of  buildings  and  generally  enlarging  and  improving  their  plant. 
Soon  twenty-five  to  thirty  young  men  and  women  of  education  are  to  arrive  in  Nigeria 
to  serve  as  teachers  and  workers  in  health  and  religion.  The  government  reports  nine 
non-assisted  schools  with  about  800  pupils. 

The  Ogbomosho  Baptist  Station  and  School  has  a  considerable  staff  and  plant.  The 
white  Americans  include  four  families,  two  from  Virginia  and  Georgia  and  two  from 
Canada.  One  of  the  men  is  a  physician.  There  are  also  several  Native  teachers,  one 
of  whom  has  studied  in  America.  The  school  has  an  enrollment  of  100  day  pupils  in 
five  standards  and  secondary  classes  of  about  100  boarding  pupils.  These  boarding 
pupils  are  divided  as  follows :  Two  academic  classes  with  some  secondary  subjects;  two 
normal  classes  combining  elementary  and  secondary  subjects  and  methods  of  teaching. 
There  are  also  three  Native  ministers  receiving  instruction  in  Baptist  doctrines  and 
some  general  subjects.  At  the  time  of  visit  there  was  a  plan  to  introduce  a  business 
course.  The  curriculum  is  not  based  upon  the  Nigerian  educational  code  and  there  is 
too  little  regard  for  the  educational  elements  required  by  the  Native  people.  It  is  now 
planned  to  reorganize  the  school  activities  so  as  to  provide  training  in  health,  industry, 
agriculture,  and  methods  of  teaching.  With  workers  from  the  southern  states  where 
they  have  an  opportunity  to  observe  the  practical  methods  of  education  for  American 
Negroes,  the  Mission  can  greatly  improve  its  present  methods.  The  plant  includes 
several  acres  of  land,  residences  for  workers,  and  one-story  buildings  for  classes.  A 
new  and  substantial  school  building  of  four  rooms  is  now  being  completed. 

The  Oyo  Baptist  Mission  at  the  time  of  the  visit  had  a  staff  of  two  young  southern 
white  men  and  their  wives.  There  were  also  Native  assistants.  The  four  were  graduates 
of  good  American  schools  and  devoting  themselves  to  practical  activities  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  health  and  morals  of  the  people.  The  plant  includes  a  rather  old 
residence,  a  new  home  for  nurses,  a  dispensary,  and  smaller  buildings. 

Northern  Nigeria 

The  reports  of  educational  facilities  in  Northern  Nigeria  vary  so  radically  as  to 
defeat  any  effort  to  determine  their  accuracy.  There  is,  however,  complete  unanimity 
in  the  statement  that  the  facihties  are  quantitatively  negUgible  when  they  are  measured 


170 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


I)y  the  educational  needs  of  a  Moliammedan  school  population  of  at  least  one  and  a 
half  million  and  a  non-Mohaniniedan  school  poi)ulation  of  over  half  a  million.  The 
most  liberal  estimate  of  the  school  facilities  gives  the  number  of  government  schools 
as  17  and  the  mission  schools  as  107.  The  so-called  Mohammedan  schools,  esti- 
mated at  25,000,  are  of  practically  no  educational  significance.  So  far  as  they  exist, 
they  are  with  few  exceptions  groups  of  children  reciting  in  monotonous  unison  portions 
of  the  Koran  in  a  language  which  they  do  not  understand.  It  is  possible  that  a  few  of 
the  schools  impart  a  knowledge  of  the  Arabic  language  and  the  wisdom  of  the  Koran 
to  a  negligible  number  of  pupils. 

The  significance  of  the  above  quantitative  measure  of  governmental  and  mission 
interest  in  education  is  to  be  modified  by  the  fact  that  the  British  Government  entered 
this  Moslem  country  only  in  1903  and  that  it  was  not  possible  to  build  a  school  until 
1909.  This  fact,  with  the  break  caused  by  the  Great  War,  explains  much.  A  qualita- 
tive measure  of  government  schools  results  more  favorably.  The  three  schools  observed 
in  the  city  of  Kano  present  definite  evidence  that  the  government  has  endeavored  to 
adapt  education  to  the  needs  of  the  people.  Conferences  with  the  government  officials 
at  Kano,  Zaria,  and  Kaduna  convinced  the  Education  Commission  that  the  govern- 
ment plans  to  develop  educational  activities  related  to  the  health,  economic  welfare, 
and  character  of  the  varied  groups  in  Northern  Nigeria.  The  Director  of  Education 
has  a  sympathetic  and  thorough  appreciation  of  the  problems  of  his  great  field.  Under 
the  inspiration  and  direction  of  the  educational  statesmanship  of  Sir  Hugh  Clifford, 
the  present  governor,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  government  and  missions 
will  work  out  a  satisfactory  policy  of  education  for  this  vast  and  perplexing  region. 

The  system  now  proposed  and  begun  provides  (a)  one  school  for  training  teachers, 
one  for  imparting  technical  skill,  and  one  for  teaching  agriculture;  (b)  provincial 
schools  under  a  British  principal  with  boarding  facilities,  including  the  standards  for 
which  the  lower  and  local  schools  can  prepare;  (c)  rural  or  local  day  schools  with  native 
teachers  emphasizing  health,  native  arts,  agriculture,  and  character-training.  The 
extent  to  which  this  system  has  been  realized  will  be  presented  in  the  summary  of 
schools  in  subsequent  paragraphs. 

All  of  the  reports  of  the  missions  in  Northern  Nigeria  have  two  features :  First,  the 
difficulty  of  the  work  owing  to  the  opposition  of  Mohammedan  influence  and  the 
consequent  lack  of  encouragement  by  the  government.  In  some  instances  the  missions 
complain  of  the  opposition  of  the  government.  Second,  the  very  limited  and  almost 
futile  character  of  much  of  the  mission  work,  both  religious  and  educational.  Several 
mission  societies  have  endeavored  to  establish  work  in  the  north.  Most  of  the  efforts 
have  been  among  the  non-Mohammedan  groups.  Those  that  have  had  a  limited 
success  are  the  Church  Missionary  Society  and  the  Sudan  United  Mission. 

Undoubtedly  the  most  perplexing  element  in  providing  schools  for  these  millions 
of  people  is  the  attitude  of  six  million  Mohammedans  in  the  northwestern  section 
whose  influence  is  strengthened  by  other  millions  extending  beyond  the  Sahara  to 
Northern  Africa  and  on  to  the  intellectual  groups  and  ignorant  masses  of  the  Nile 
River  and  the  Near  East.  These  millions,  with  their  superior  social  and  governmental 


NIGERIA 


171 


organizatiin  and  their  keen  trading  instincts,  tend  more  and  more  to  dominate  the 
three  milHon  non-Mohammedans  of  the  northeast.  The  present  government,  has 
naturally  hesitated  to  become  party  to  the  propagation  of  Christianity,  lest  it  sliould 
arouse  the  suspicion  of  millions  of  Mohammedans  who  do  not  distinguish  between 
European  officers  of  the  government  and  any  other  Europeans. 

There  is  considerable  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  justification  of  the  policy, 
proposed  by  Sir  Frederick  Lugard  as  a  military  officer  and  adopted  by  the  government, 
whereby  each  Emir  is  permitted  practically  to  "estabhsh"  the  religion  of  his  province. 
Some  careful  students  believe  that  the  support  of  the  policy  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment has  meant  the  continuation  of  the  Fulani  and  Mohammedan  power  at  a  time 
when  the  increasing  dissatisfaction  of  the  Hausa,  and  other  peoples  would  have  over- 
thrown their  regime.  Whatever  may  be  the  truth  of  these  opinions,  the  fundamental 
consideration  is  that  the  world  has  long  since  learned  by  bitter  experience  that  state 
control  of  religion  is  in  the  long  run  neither  practical  nor  safe.  Sound  policy  in 
Northern  Nigeria  requires  the  recognition  of  the  principle  of  religious  liberty  so  funda- 
mentally a  part  of  British  and  American  thought  and  practice. 

Government  Schools 

The  three  central  and  significant  government  schools  in  Northern  Nigeria  are  in  the 
city  of  Kano.  They  are  as  follows: 

The  Provincial  School  is  devoted  entirely  to  the  usual  subjects  of  an  English 
elementary  school  with  the  addition  of  Arabic.  The  teaching  staff  consists  of  one 
European  supervisor  and  10  Native  teachers.  The  enrollment  consists  of  85  boys,  all 
boarding  students,  ranging  in  age  from  8  to  16  years.  The  curriculum  includes 
Standards  I  to  V  with  the  usual  subjects  required  by  the  Nigerian  Code  and  also 
Arabic.  The  vernacular  is  used  in  the  lower  standards  and  an  increasing  amount  of 
English  in  the  upper  classes.  The  pupils  show  considerable  proficiency  in  arithmetic. 
The  work  seems  quite  elementary  and  bookish  and  there  is  practically  no  provision  for 
instruction  in  such  subjects  as  gardening,  handwork,  and  other  activities  related  to  the 
needs  of  the  masses  of  the  people.  The  school  is  within  the  walls  of  the  old  city.  The 
school  compound  and  building  are  in  imitation  of  Moorish  architecture  and  entirely  of 
mud.  The  school  building  is  in  the  form  of  a  hollow  square  with  a  garden  in  the  center. 
The  pupils  sit  on  mats  with  low  desks  in  front  of  them.  The  sleeping  compound,  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  is  composed  of  mud  structures  with  windows.  The  pupils 
sleep  on  mats  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country.  The  plant  is  clean  and  orderly. 

The  Industrial  School  was  organized  about  1914  by  the  present  European  super- 
visor under  the  command  of  Sir  Frederick  Lugard,  who  suggested  the  name  "In- 
dustrial." English  educators  prefer  the  name  "Technical"  because  the  term 
"Industrial"  is  used  in  England  to  describe  prison  schools.  Pupils  are  admitted  to 
the  school  without  any  formal  examination  and  are  retained  provided  they  show 
reasonable  ability.  They  board  and  room  at  the  school.  The  seven  Native  teachers 
have  all  been  trained  by  the  supervisor.  All  discipline  is  exercised  by  the  Native  staff. 
The  enrollment  consists  of  about  100  young  men,  all  of  them  apprentices  receiving  a 


172 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


small  wage.  The  supervisor  deserves  much  credit  for  the  organization  and  develop- 
ment of  this  school  under  the  existing  conditions.  His  supervisory  duties  are  extensive 
and  he  should  have  additional  European  assistants.  The  course  comprises  four  years' 
instruction  in  a  trade.  The  work-day  is  7  hours.  The  plan  requires  one  hour  a  day 
devoted  to  instruction  in  the  "three  R's,"  hygiene,  and  English.  This  is  poorly  done. 
The  occupations  taught  include  work  in  iron,  wood,  leather,  cement,  and  motor  repair. 
The  school  is  a  real  achievement  even  in  its  present  form,  but  it  should  be  developed 
educationally,  so  that  the  pupils  may  be  not  only  mechanics  but  teachers  of  industry. 

The  Siirvey  School  is  a  unique  school  of  unusual  effectiveness  in  the  training  of 
Native  surveyors,  draughtsmen,  computers,  clerks,  and  printers.  The  immediate 
purj)ose  of  the  school  is  to  train  young  Natives  to  assist  the  government  in  the  assign- 
ment and  collection  of  the  taxes  on  the  basis  of  land  holdings  and  property.  The  general 
educational  results  are  far  more  valuable  than  the  special  skill  acquired.  The  staff 
consists  of  a  European  supervisor  and  ten  Native  instructors  who  have  been  trained 
at  the  school.  The  enrollment  consists  of  about  50  boys  and  young  men  boarding  at 
the  school.  They  are  admitted  from  the  Koranic  schools  or  the  provincial  schools. 
The  first  class  consists  of  30  boys  about  10  years  of  age  learning  the  "three  R's."  The 
second  class  is  learning  to  draw.  The  three  or  four  upper  groups  are  engaged  in  the 
preparation  of  maps  showing  landholdings  arranged  according  to  taxable  values.  The 
survey  pupils  are  divided  into  the  groups  interested  only  in  the  survey  of  Kano  and 
those  learning  general  surveying  and  related  activities.  Promotion  is  based  entirely 
on  individual  skill  in  the  assigned  tasks.  The  striking  ability  of  the  pupils  is  illustrated 
by  the  instance  of  one  who  surveyed  the  circular  wall  of  Kano,  11  miles  in  length,  with 
an  error  of  only  two  feet.  The  educational  value  of  such  an  achievement  has  an  un- 
doubted effect  on  the  mind  as  well  as  the  character  of  the  student. 

In  addition  to  the  central  institutions  at  Kano  there  are  a  few  smaller  schools  of 
limited  influence  and  entirely  of  the  elementary  type.  The  most  important  educa- 
tional project  now  being  organized  by  the  government  is  that  of  building  an  effective 
institution  for  the  training  of  teachers  at  Katsena,  the  outstanding  center  of  Moham- 
medan learning  in  Nigeria.  The  school  was  planned  in  1914,  but  its  construction  was 
deferred  by  the  war.  European  instructors  have  been  employed  and  buildings  are  now 
probably  well  under  way.  The  curriculum  will  provide  for  instruction  and  training 
related  to  the  hygienic,  agricultural,  and  character  development  of  the  masses  of  the 
people.  As  soon  as  possible  subjects  of  secondary  grade  will  be  introduced.  It  is 
evident  that  this  institution,  located  in  the  heart  of  the  Mohammedan  section,  will  of 
necessity  train  young  men  of  that  faith.  It  Is  generally  agreed  that  immediate  provision 
should  be  made  for  another  institution  among  the  non-Mohammedan  population  in  the 
northeast. 

Educational  credit  must  also  be  given  for  government  activities  that  are  not  under 
the  educational  department.  A  summary  of  the  funds  expended  for  activities  related 
to  education  has  been  given  in  Part  I  of  this  chapter.  The  various  departments  of 
Northern  Nigeria  show  genuine  interest  in  Native  welfare.  The  department  of  agri- 
culture maintains  about  40  Native  agents  who  travel  about  giving  instruction  in  cotton 


NIGERIA 


173 


planting,  and  5  to  10  who  disseminate  information  about  peanuts,  cocoa,  and  other 
smaller  commercial  products.  There  are  also  three  experimental  farms.  Unfortunately 
the  emphasis  of  these  activities  is  rather  narrowly  commercial. 

Mission  Schools 

The  mission  societies  in  Northern  Nigeria  have  not  yet  produced  any  schools  that 
may  be  described  as  central  or  significant.  There  are  several  small  religious  organi- 
zations, besides  the  Church  Missionary  Society  and  the  Sudan  United  Mission.  The 
smaller  societies  have  made  serious  efforts  to  establish  their  work,  but  as  yet  their 
educational  influence  is  negligible.  Even  the  activities  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  and  Sudan  United  Mission  are  educationally  only  pioneer  beginnings. 

Church  Missionary  Society 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  reports  mission  activities  as  follows: 

The  Mission  in  the  northern  provinces,  called  Northern  Nigeria  Mission,  is  among  the  Hausa  people, 
who  are  practically  entirely  Mohammedan,  at  Zaria;  the  Nupe  people,  who  are  partly  Mohammedan  and 
partly  pagan,  at  Lokoja;  and  Basa  and  Yoruba  peoples,  who  are  mainly  pagan,  at  Lokoja,  and  other  stations 
around  the  confluence  of  the  Niger  and  the  Binue.  Work  has  also  been  established  at  Panyam  and  Kabwir, 
in  the  Bauchi  highlands,  among  the  Sura  and  Angass  tribes,  who  are  entirely  pagan.  Training  classes  for 
evangelists  are  carried  on  at  Bida,  Zaria,  and  Kabwir,  and  there  is  medical  work  at  Zaria  and  Kabwir. 
The  staff  in  the  northern  provinces  is  composed  of  nine  foreign  and  four  African  clergymen;  two  lay  mis- 
sionaries, of  whom  one  is  a  doctor;  five  missionaries'  wives;  three  other  women  missionaries;  and  60  African 
Christian  lay  agents. 

The  most  significant  effort  to  bring  Christianity  directly  to  the  Mohammedan  group 
is  that  introduced  and  continued  by  Dr.  W.  R.  S.  Miller,  a  medical  missionary,  who 
went  to  Northern  Nigeria  over  twenty  years  ago.  Owing  to  Mohammedan  conven- 
tions as  to  health  activities,  he  was  unable  to  use  his  medical  skill  and  he  therefore  has 
devoted  his  unusual  personality  to  general  missionary  activities  in  this  perplexing  field. 
He  is  undoubtedly  the  best  informed  man  on  Mohammedanism  in  Northern  Nigeria. 
He  is  a  man  of  keen  intellect,  broad  sympathies,  and  real  interest  in  humanity.  He 
represents  the  best  culture  of  England.  His  devotion  to  the  people  has  won  the  friend- 
ship of  the  leading  Mohammedans  of  the  provinces  in  which  he  lives.  The  Chief 
Mallam  of  Zaria  visits  him  on  terms  of  intimacy  and  even  of  affection.  This  is  all  the 
more  remarkable  when  it  is  understood  that  Dr.  Miller  does  not  hesitate  to  tell  these 
leaders  of  Mohammedanism  the  failures  of  their  practice,  as  well  as  of  their  beliefs.  He 
has  been  compelled  to  differ  from  the  government  officials  on  many  occasions.  Never- 
theless they  admire  him  and  recognize  his  ability,  his  sincerity,  and  his  devotion  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  people,  as  well  as  of  the 'British  Empire.  With  all  this  ability 
and  devotion,  however,  his  educational  and 'religious  work  has  been  so  seriously 
hampered  by  the  opposition  of  the  Mohammedans  and  by  the  indifference  and  some- 
times even  the  hostility  of  the  government  that  the  extent  of  his  plant  and  his  activities 
is  very  limited.  His  simple  but  effective  school  has  only  26  boarding  boys  and  the 
church  is  correspondingly  small  in  number.  According  to  Dr.  Miller  the  British  officials 
are  now  more  friendly  and  the  Native  administration  of  a  higher  type. 


171 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


For  other  provinces  of  Northern  Nigeria  the  Church  Missionary  Society  Report  for 
1920  presents  the  following  observations: 

In  the  Ilorin  province  the  old  established  stations  towards  the  coast  were  comparatively  weak,  those 
further  inland  more  vigorous.  Forced  labor  for  British  Cotton  Growers  Association  is  a  hindrance. 

In  Nupe  province  the  work  at  Kataeregi  progressed  but  it  was  hampered  by  the  political  officer  who 
forbade  the  building  of  a  church  or  school  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  any  house  in  the  village.  There  are 
marriage  difficulties  owing  to  the  fewness  of  Christian  Nupe  girls.  Many  Moslems,  even  Mallams,  are 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel. 

For  the  Bauchi  province  at  Panyam  and  Kaburi,  where  the  Cambridge  University 
Party  are  maintaining  about  six  "bush"  schools,  the  work  is  making  some  progress. 
"Through  the  help  of  a  friendly  government  officer,  difficulties  as  to  starting  work  at 
Tolong  were  eventually  settled,  and  the  governor-general  listened  sympathetically  to 
missionary  representation  about  the  hindrances  to  evangelism,  and  promised  inquiry." 

Sudan  United  Mission 

The  Sudan  United  Mission  was  first  organized  under  the  name  of  the  Sudan  Pioneer 
Society  in  1902  by  representatives  of  several  churches  in  England  for  the  purpose  of 
presenting  Christianity  to  the  non-Mohammedan  tribes  of  the  Sudan.  It  was  reorgan- 
ized in  1904  under  the  present  name  and  the  first  missionaries  were  sent  to  Northern 
Nigeria  in  the  same  year.  In  1906  a  branch  of  the  society  was  formed  in  the  United 
States;  in  1907  another  in  South  Africa;  in  1911  one  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand; 
and  in  1912  one  in  Denmark.  Each  branch  is  assigned  a  definite  area  in  the  Sudan. 
In  1912  the  society  maintained  12  central  stations  with  outstations  in  Nigeria  and  also 
the  Home  for  Freed  Slaves'  Children  at  Wukari.  "The  school  at  this  Home  is  the  only 
one  staffed  by  Europeans.  The  58  children  attending  are  all  inmates  of  the  Home, 
freed  from  slavery  and  consigned  to  the  Home  by  the  oflBcials  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment. The  school  receives  financial  aid  from  the  government  and  is  organized  accord- 
ing to  the  Nigerian  Educational  Code.  There  are  about  16  little  bush  schools  still  in 
the  primitive  stage."  The  Mission  as  a  whole  had  about  32  Europeans  in  Nigeria  at 
the  end  of  1920.  Owing  to  a  lack  of  pupils  and  teachers  the  Training  Institute  for 
Evangelists  has  been  closed.  All  reports  indicate  that  the  Sudan  United  Mission  is 
struggling  heroically  in  spite  of  limited  financial  means  and  personnel.  While  the 
activities  of  this  Mission  are  utterly  inadequate  to  meet  the  great  demands  of  North- 
eastern Nigeria,  they  are  commendable  as  pioneer  beginnings  under  great  diflBculties. 

HI.  SUMMARY  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

The  educational  conditions  briefly  outlined  in  Part  II  may  best  be  summarized  by 
quotations  from  Sir  Hugh  Clifford's  remarkable  address  to  the  Nigerian  Council 
in  1920: 

Education  in  Nigeria  is  a  matter  of  great  and  growing  importance,  concerning  which,  I  regret  to  say, 
I  have  little  that  is  encouraging  to  record.  ...  In  the  northern  provinces  there  has  been  until  recently 
a  certain  tendency  to  regard  education  of  the  local  population  with  some  uneasiness  and  suspicion,  as  a 


NIGERIA 


175 


process  likely  to  exert  a  disintoRratinp  and  demoralizing  cfTect  upon  the  characters  of  those  who  are  siibjected 
to  it;  and  wiiere  this  feeling  has  been  overcome,  a  furtiier  tendency  is  observable  to  regard  e<lucation  too 
exclusively  as  a  handmaid  to  administration.  \Mule,  therefore,  after  two  <lecades  of  Hritish  occupation,  the 
northern  provinces  have  not  yet  produced  a  single  Native  of  these  provinces  who  is  sufficiently  educated  to 
enable  him  to  fill  the  most  minor  clerical  post  in  the  office  of  anj'  government  department;  while  the  African 
staffs  of  these  offices  throughout  the  northern  provinces  are  therefore  manned  by  men  from  the  Gold  Coast, 
Sierra  Leone,  and  from  the  southern  provinces  of  Nigeria;  and  while  the  men  belonging  to  the  northern 
provinces,  who  obtain  work  as  artisans  in  the  railway  workshops  at  Offa  or  at  Minna,  are  so  ill-educated 
that  they  are  unable  to  compete  on  even  terms  with  men  of  a  similar  class  drawn  from  other  parts  of  Nigeria; 
education  in  the  north  has  been  practically  confined  to  the  vernacular  and  to  Arabic,  has  been  allowed  to 
become  the  almost  exclusive  perquisite  of  the  children  of  the  local  rulingclasses.and  has  for  its  main  object 
the  equipment  of  these  children  with  just  sufficient  knowledge  of  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  to  enable 
them,  in  after  life,  to  fill  posts  under  one  or  another  of  the  various  Native  administrations. 

In  the  southern  provinces,  education  is  at  the  present  time  in  even  worse  case  than  it  is  in  the  northern 
provinces.  There  is  a  great  deal  more  of  it;  but  the  general  standard  to  which  it  attains  is  far  lower  than  any 
with  which  service  in  other  tropical  dependencies  of  the  Crown  has  familiarized  me.  In  the  northern 
provinces  we  are  in  a  position  to  make  a  fresh  start,  and  so  little  has  been  done  that  there  is  not  much  that 
needs  to  be  undone.  In  the  southern  provinces  the  position  is  very  different.  The  lack  of  properly  trained 
teachers  is  here  even  more  acutely  felt;  but  this  does  not  prevent  the  sprouting-up  in  every  direction  of  a 
mushroom-growth  of  "hedge-schools"  in  the  majority  of  which  young  men  who  are  incapable  of  grappling 
succes.sfully  with  the  mysteries  of  the  Fourth  Standard  profess  to  impart "  education  "  to  large  groups  of  boys. 

The  position  then  is  that  there  is  throughout  the  southern  provinces  an  abundance  of  schools  but  very 
little  genuine  education;  that  the  children  are  themselves  curiously  eager  to  attend  school,  but  are  much  less 
willing  to  remain  there  long  enough  to  acquire  any  real  and  useful  knowledge;  and  that  too  many  of  them, 
no  matter  how  imperfectly  educated  they  may  be,  thereafter  regard  themselves  as  superior  to  agricultural 
pursuits,  and  prefer  to  pick  up  a  precarious  and  demoralizing  living  by  writing  more  or  less  unintelligible 
letters  for  persons  whose  ignorance  is  even  deeper  than  their  own. 

The  curricula  in  use  in  the  government  and  in  the  assisted  schools,  moreover,  require  to  be  very  con- 
siderably revised,  and  to  be  reframed  on  more  practical  and  useful  lines.  The  curricula  in  force  in  the  Gold 
Coast,  for  example,  are  altogether  superior  to  those  in  use  in  Nigeria;  where,  in  my  opinion,  far  too  little 
attention  is  paid  to  the  coordination  of  hand  and  eye,  and  where  literary  acquirements  are  apparently 
regarded  too  often  as  the  be-all  and  end-all  of  education. 

It  has  never  been  the  practice  in  British  possessions  in  the  tropics  for  the  local  government  to  claim  the 
right  to  exercise  any  control  or  supervision  over  scholastic  enterprises  that  do  not  voluntarily  submit  to 
these  things  for  a  grant-in-aid,  the  amount  of  which  is  annually  determined  by  the  degree  of  efficiency 
attained  by  each  school,  as  revealed  by  the  periodic  reports  of  government  inspectors.  Having  regard,  how- 
ever, to  the  extraordinary  irruption  of  "hedge-schools,"  which  has  of  late  years  occurred  throughout  the 
southern  provinces,  and  the  evils  which  are  therefore  resulting — evils  which,  I  think,  are  recognized  by  all  in 
Nigeria  who  have  the  cause  of  genuine  education  at  heart — it  may  yet  become  necessary  for  the  Government 
of  Nigeria  to  reconsider  its  attitude  in  this  matter.  It  will  be  recognized,  however,  that  action  in  any  such 
direction  is,  and  will  continue  to  be,  exceedingly  difficult  until  the  government  is  itself  in  a  position  to  meet 
what  is  unquestionably  a  genuine  and  widespread  demand  for  education,  which  the  "hedge-schools"  at 
present  are  making  believe  in  some  measure  to  satisfy. 

These  are  words  of  unusual  wisdom  that  offer  genuine  hope  for  the  educational 
future  of  this  great  colony.  That  in  some  respects  Sir  Hugh  may  be  said  to  under- 
value the  educational  facilities  strengthens  our  confidence  in  him  as  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  colony,  for  we  are  assured  that  he  is  willing  to  face  the  worst  and  plan  for 
improvement.  With  all  the  limitations  and  failures  of  education,  however,  it  must  be 
recognized  that  the  religious  societies  described  in  Part  II  have  worked  for  many  years 
amidst  many  difficulties,  that  up  to  a  recent  time  they  have  paid  a  tragic  price  in  the 


17G 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


death  of  many  splendid  men  and  women  who  came  to  introduce  education  and  reh'gion, 
that  they  liave  organized  a  few  centers  of  education  equal  to  the  best  of  their  home 
countries,  and,  finally,  that  they  have  succeeded  in  producing  a  small  but  significant 
number  of  African  men  and  women  who  can  now  become  the  nucleus  of  the  processes 
of  education  and  general  civilization  in  Nigeria.  The  most  genuine  expression  of 
appreciation  for  the  services  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  Roman  Catholic, 
Wesleyan,  and  Scottish  Missions,  and  the  other  smaller  societies,  is  the  frank  state- 
mansliip  of  Sir  HughCliflFord  and  those  who  cooperate  with  him  in  the  determination  to 
build  wisely  and  adequately  upon  the  best  elements  of  the  past  and  especially  to  relate 
education  to  the  needs  of  the  masses  of  the  people. 

The  following  recommendations  are  based  upon  a  study  of  reports  and  addresses  by 
government  officials,  conference  with  missionary  administrators,  and  the  observations 
of  the  Education  Commission: 

1.  That  all  concerned  distinguish  clearly  the  educational  needs,  namely,  the  edu- 
cation of  the  masses  of  the  people,  the  training  of  teachers  and  leaders  for  the 
masses,  and  the  preparation  of  professional  men  who  must  pass  the  conventional 
requirements  of  British  universities. 

2.  That  the  education  of  the  masses  and  their  teachers  be  determined  by  the 
following  elements,  namely,  health,  ability  to  develop  the  resources  of  the 
country,  household  arts,  sound  recreation,  rudiments  of  knowledge,  character 
development,  and  community  responsibility.  The  Native  teachers  should  also 
have  access  to  the  great  truths  of  physical  and  social  science  and  the  inspiration 
of  history  and  literature. 

3.  That  the  school  system  in  each  province  provide  a  central  teacher-training 
school  with  boarding  pupils,  community  center  schools  with  some  boarding 
facilities,  local  day  schools  with  e£Fective  activities  in  the  community,  and 
traveling  supervisors  to  direct,  advise,  and  inspire  local  teachers. 

4.  That  in  areas  without  schools  the  government  provide  for  the  temporary 
employment  of  teachers  of  lower  qualifications  on  condition  that  adequate 
supervision  be  supplied  and  facilities  for  the  increased  supply  of  better  pre- 
pared teachers  be  provided. 

5.  That  the  profession  of  teaching  receive  some  form  of  government  recognition  in 
addition  to  a  living  wage,  so  that  the  profession  may  attract  capable  youth  and 
also  exert  a  great  influence  on  community  life. 

6.  That  the  education  of  women  and  girls  receive  much  more  serious  consideration 
both  as  to  quality  and  quantity.  Several  very  good  schools  for  girls  have  been 
described  in  Part  II.  The  special  weakness  is  in  the  small  proportion  of  girls  in 
the  day  schools. 

7.  That  the  schools  in  their  community  extensions  be  regarded  as  centers  for  trans- 
mitting the  influence  of  such  government  departments  as  agriculture  and 
health. 


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177 


8.  That  the  personnel  and  equipment  of  the  agricultural  department  be  enlarged 
so  that  more  provision  may  be  made  for  the  instruction  of  the  small  farmers  in 
food-production  and  in  general  rural  improvement.  At  present  a  considerable 
number  of  the  schools  in  Nigeria  are  teaching  gardening.  A  few  of  the  schools 
regard  this  instruction  as  an  important  part  of  their  regular  activities.  The 
hirge  majority  of  the  teachers  throughout  the  colony  do  not  appreciate  the  vital 
importance  of  instruction  in  gardening  and  agriculture.  The  government  is  to  be 
congratulated  upon  the  plan  requiring  that  lectures  on  agriculture  shall  be  given 
to  teachers  during  the  vacation.  These  lectures  are  in  two  courses  of  three 
weeks.  While  this  instruction  is  helpful  it  is  only  a  beginning  in  the  right 
direction.  There  is  nowhere  in  the  colony  a  school  that  has  a  department  of 
agriculture  for  the  training  of  young  men  in  this  important  field  of  work. 

9.  That  the  cooperation  now  existing  between  the  missions  and  government  be 
extended  to  include  the  commercial  and  industrial  agencies,  so  that  the  full 
power  of  the  colony  may  be  devoted  to  improvement  of  the  people. 

The  application  of  these  recommendations  geographically  to  the  governmental  and 
mission  activities  suggests  the  following  changes : 

The  Lagos  Colony 

The  higher  schools  for  boys  in  Lagos  are  all  so  exclusively  devoted  to  the  conven- 
tional requirements  of  university  preparation  as  to  neglect  almost  entirely  the  training 
of  teachers  suggested  in  the  first  recommendation.  Surely  some  of  the  schools  of  Lagos 
should  have  regard  for  the  economic  and  hygienic  needs  of  a  new  country. 

Western  Provinces 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  School  at  Oyo,  the  Wesleyan  Training  Institute  at 
Ibadan,  and  the  Baptist  Mission  at  Ogbomosho  are  all  in  need  of  teachers  and  facilities 
for  teaching  simple  industries  and  agriculture.  It  is  also  likely  that  they  need  to 
develop  a  system  of  central  and  local  schools  in  accordance  with  the  third  recom- 
mendation. 

Central  Provinces 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Mission  are  exceedingly 
weak  in  provision  to  supervision  of  their  large  numbers  of  "bush  schools."  They  are 
also  lamentably  lacking  in  facilities  for  teacher-training,  agriculture,  and  native 
industries. 

Calahar 

The  smaller  mission  societies  have  regarded  education  as  an  incident  to  their 
evangelistic  work.  On  this  basis  the  government  cannot  wisely  consent  to  the  assign- 
ment of  any  territory  to  the  educational  care  of  such  missions.  The  Scottish  Mission 
schools  are  now  in  need  of  more  supervisors  and  especially  of  more  men  to  carry  on  and 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


enlarge  the  work.  The  work  at  the  Hope-Waddell  Sehool  would  be  greatly  strength- 
ened hy  the  extension  of  agriculture  and  industrial  training  to  the  teachers'  course  and 
by  the  addition  of  a  department  of  agriculture. 

Northeastern  Nigeria 

The  utter  inadequacy  of  educational  provisions  among  the  three  million  non- 
Mohammedan  tribes  of  the  northeast  is  very  evident.  Every  recommendation  offered 
above  applies  emphatically  to  this  important  section  of  Nigeria.  In  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  government  is  now  building  a  first-class  teacher-training  institution  among 
the  Mohammedan  peoples  of  the  northwest,  it  is  agreed  by  government  and  missions 
that  another  equally  well-equipped  school  should  be  organized  in  the  northeast.  As 
the  government  cannot  now  undertake  this  important  responsibility,  it  is  further 
agreed  that  Christian  missions  should  accept  the  task. 

Northwestern  Nigeria 

The  sound  beginnings  of  education  for  the  six  million  Mohammedans  in  this  section 
are  a  promise  for  the  future.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  government  may  vigorously 
push  the  development  of  the  school  system  along  the  lines  of  the  recommendations. 
Hitherto  there  has  been  practically  no  provision  for  agricultural  education.  The 
desire  of  Christian  missions  to  work  near  to  and  within  Mohammedan  areas  has  been 
discussed  and  the  necessity  for  the  recognition  of  religious  freedom  has  been  urged.  On 
the  basis  of  this  conviction,  the  practical  procedure  for  the  representatives  of  Euro- 
pean civilization  and  Christianity  would  seem  to  be  as  follows: 

1.  That  the  British,  and  especially  the  officers  of  the  Christian  Church,  prevail 
upon  the  government  to  grant  religious  freedom  in  Northern  Nigeria. 

2.  That  every  effort  be  made  to  advance  the  type  of  education  adapted  to  the 
health,  industrial,  agricultural,  and  character  development  of  the  people  of 
Northern  Nigeria  regardless  of  their  religous  affiliations. 

3.  That  arrangements  be  made  to  have  at  least  a  few  Christian  missionaries, 
especially  adapted  by  temperament  and  education,  to  work  in  the  Moham- 
medan areas.  This  number  should  be  increased  as  suitable  missionaries  are 
found  and  Mohammedans  come  to  understand  the  distinction  between  govern- 
ment and  missions. 

4.  That  in  the  areas  regarded  as  the  fringe  of  Mohammedanism,  efforts  be  made  to 
avoid  placing  Mohammedan  leaders  over  non-Mohammedan  or  Christian 
tribes.  In  these  regions  it  would  appear  that  Christian  teachers  should  be 
sufficiently  numerous  to  present  the  claims  of  Christian  civilization. 


Chapter  IX 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 

The  variety  of  educational  policies  and  activities  for  the  Natives  of  South  Africa 
provides  a  rich  field  for  the  study  of  sound  and  unsound  methods  in  Native  educa- 
tion, of  genuine  interest  in  the  development  of  the  Native,  and  of  complete  indiffer- 
ence and  even  antagonism  to  any  form  of  Native  education.  That  South  Africa  is 
destined  to  become  more  and  more  the  determinant  of  all  Africa  seems  to  have  been 
settled  by  the  climatic  advantages  of  the  south  temperate  zone  and  the  high  altitude, 
by  the  vast  physical  resources  of  soil,  minerals,  and  animal  life,  and  finally,  by  the 
splendid  types  of  white  and  Native  peoples.  Similarly,  South  African  influence  on 
Native  education  throughout  Africa  will  undoubtedly  become  greater  and  greater 
as  the  educational  statesmanship  of  the  Union  Government  extends  and  improves 
educational  facilities  for  the  Native  people.  Guarantees  of  this  statesmanship  are 
observed  in  the  Commission  on  Native  Affairs  appointed  by  Premier  Smuts,  in  the 
increasing  liberality  of  Cape  Province  to  Native  schools,  and  in  the  well-adapted 
system  of  Native  education  in  Natal.  Most  significant  of  all  for  Native  education 
are  the  educational  achievements  of  mission  societies  aided  by  government  grants. 
Part  I  of  this  chapter  presents  the  "Economic  and  Sociological  Backgrounds"  for 
education  in  a  brief  outline  of  the  important  facts  concerning  the  people,  the  country, 
and  the  European  organizations  in  British  South  Africa.  Part  II  describes  the  educa- 
tional facilities.  Part  III  contains  the  "Summary  and  Recommendations." 

I.    ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIOLOGICAL  BACKGROUND 

British  South  Africa,  almost  entirely  in  the  south  temperate  zone,  includes  the 
Union  of  South  Africa  and  several  British  protectorates  with  a  total  area  of  a  million 
and  a  half  square  miles  or  one-half  the  area  of  the  United  States  of  America.  The 
total  population  in  1921*  was  about  eight  and  a  half  million  people,  of  whom  one  and 
a  half  million  were  white,  a  ratio  of  about  five  blacks  to  one  white  person.  The 
important  unit  in  this  group  is  the  Union  of  South  Africa,  with  seven  and  a  quarter 
million  of  the  total  population  and  almost  all  of  the  million  and  a  half  white  people. 
In  1918  the  Union  population  was  almost  seven  millions.  The  political  units  of  the 
sub-continent  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  Union  of  South  Africa,  a  self-governing  British  dominion,  with  an  area  of  474,000  square 
miles  and  a  population  of  7,305,377,  of  whom  1,503,904  are  white  people. 

2.  Southern  Rhodesia,  administered  since  1889  by  the  British  South  Africa  Company  under  a  Royal 
charter  of  incorporation,  with  an  area  of  149,000  square  miles  and  a  population  of  771,077,  of  whom  23,606 
are  whites. 

*Union:  The  census  for  the  whole  population  was  last  taken  in  1911.  In  1918  a  census  of  the  European 
population  only  was  taken.  The  census  officials,  however,  take  a  mean  estimate  of  population  for  each 
year  and  the  figures  given  here  are  the  estimated  population  for  1921. 

Bechuanaland,  Swaziland,  Basutoland:  The  figures  given  are  the  population  census  for  all  inhabitants 
taken  in  1921. 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


3.  Northern  Rhodesia,  administered  by  the  British  South  Africa  Company  under  a  charter  of  in- 
corporation, with  an  area  of  291,000  square  miles  and  a  population  of  931,875,  of  whom  2,900  are  whites. 

4.  Bechuanaland,  a  British  protectorate,  under  the  Colonial  Office  in  London,  with  an  area  of  275,000 
square  miles  and  a  population  of  152,983,  of  whom  1,743  are  white. 

5.  Basutoland,  a  crown  colony,  with  an  area  of  11,71C  square  miles  and  a  population  of  498,787,  of 
whom  1,603  are  white. 

6.  Swaziland,  under  the  administration  of  the  High  Commissioner  for  South  Africa,  with  an  area 
of  6,678  square  miles  and  a  population  of  112,951,  of  whom  2,205  are  white. 

7.  The  Southwest  Africa  Protectorate  (formerly  known  as  German  Southwest  Africa),  a  protectorate 
under  the  Union  of  South  Africa  under  the  mandate  of  the  Versailles  Treaty  of  Peace,  with  an  area  of 
322,450  square  miles,  and  a  population  of  108,298,  of  whom  15,298  are  white. 

Union  of  South  Africa 

The  Union  is  strikingly  differentiated  from  the  African  colonies  of  the  tropical 
regions  by  the  considerable  proportion  of  white  population  who  have  become  per- 
manent residents  rather  than  more  or  less  temporary  sojourners  as  in  the  other 
colonies  and  India.  The  permanent  character  of  the  European  occupation  and  the 
ratio  of  one  white  to  four  blacks,  with  a  slight  tendency  for  the  black  proportion  to 
increase,  constitutes  the  outstanding  element  that  so  largely  determines  race  relations 
in  South  Africa.  Sometimes  the  influence  is  economic,  the  white  employer  seeking 
labor  for  mine  or  farm,  or  the  white  mechanic  fearing  the  potential  competition  of 
advancing  Native  skill;  sometimes  it  is  sociological,  the  white  community  guarding 
health  and  morals  from  the  close  proximity  of  an  undeveloped  people;  often  it  is 
psychological,  the  European  minority  conscious  of  the  Native  millions  close  at  hand 
and  the  other  millions  of  the  tropical  regions  to  the  north.  All  this  is  in  contrast  with 
racial  proportions  in  the  United  States  of  America,  where  the  ratio  is  one  colored  to 
nine  white  persons,  with  all  indications  pointing  to  an  increasing  proportion  of  the 
white  population. 

The  Union  Government  was  formed  in  1910  through  the  agreement  of  the  four  self- 
governing  colonies,  namely.  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  with  an  area  of  276,966  square 
miles;  Natal,  35,291;  Transvaal,  110,450;  and  Orange  Free  State,  50,390.  The  Union 
Government,  with  administrative  headquarters  at  Pretoria  and  the  seat  of  legis- 
lature at  Cape  Town,  has  by  far  the  greater  power,  especially  as  regards  legislation 
and  taxation  pertaining  to  the  Natives.  The  provinces  are  limited  to  local  finance, 
elementary  education,  including  Native  education,  roads,  charities,  and  health.  The 
Natives  are  represented  in  the  Union  Senate  by  four  Europeans  nominated  by  the 
government  for  their  knowledge  of  Native  affairs.  In  Cape  Province  Natives  are 
permitted  to  vote  when  they  are  able  to  meet  the  conditions  required  by  law.  Their 
vote  has  a  considerable  influence  on  legislation  for  the  Cape  and  especially  on  school 
appropriations  for  the  Natives. 

It  is  possible  only  to  hint  at  the  great  wealth  of  mineral  and  soil  resources,  the 
surpassing  beauty  of  the  plains  and  mountains,  the  delightful  climatic  variations  of 
the  south  temperate  zone,  and  the  remarkable  development  of  highways,  raihoads, 
and  seaports.   There  is  some  suggestion  of  the  climate  in  the  fact  that  the  latitude. 


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182 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


25  to  35  degrees  south,  is  the  same  as  that  of  AustraHa,  or  the  corresponding  north 
hititude  of  the  southern  states  in  America.  Even  these  temperatures  are  modified 
agreeably  by  the  high  altitudes  and  extensive  plateaus.  Soil  products  in  1918,  ex- 
clusive of  the  comparatively  small  amounts  produced  by  Natives  on  their  own  loca- 
tions, included  wheat,  250,150  tons;  maize,  1,159,804;  Kaffir  corn,  191,762;  potatoes, 
110,033;  oats,  107,020;  barley,  25,395;  tobacco,  8,302.  The  live-stock  in  1919  con- 
sisted of  sheep,  31,507,781 ;  cattle,  7,255,758;  goats,  8,587,262;  pigs,  1,006,666;  horses, 
798,276;  ostriches,  282,070;  mules,  82,940.  The  value  of  the  mineral  products  in 
1920  was  gold,  £34,350,000;  diamonds,  £14,750,000;  coal,  £4,500,000;  copper, 
£418,269;  lime,  £244,745;  silver,  £245,871;  tin,  £435,680;  sulphate  of  ammonia, 
£63,088,  and  many  other  minerals.*  The  production  of  ostrich  feathers,  now  valued  at 
a  million  pounds  Sterling,  is  the  greatest  in  the  world.  The  fruits  of  South  Africa  are 
remarkable  in  quantity,  variety,  and  quality,  and  with  better  shipping  facilities  will 
undoubtedly  become  an  increasing  source  of  wealth.  The  railroad  system  of  9,500 
miles  is  efficiently  managed  by  the  Union  Government.  Provincial  governments  are 
expending  considerable  money  in  developing  and  maintaining  highways.  This  very 
inadequate  survey  indicates  the  wealth  of  the  country  and  the  diligence  and  skill  with 
which  these  resources  are  being  developed.  With  increased  population  and  real  states- 
manship there  is  here  a  guarantee  that  South  Africa  will  become  one  of  the  great 
world  powers. 

According  to  the  1918  census  the  population  of  the  Union  was  6,986,687,  as 
against  6,003,101  in  1911,  a  fairly  large  increase  in  seven  years.  The  white  popu- 
lation in  1918  was  1,421,781  and  the  Native  population  was  5,532,455.  As  the  1918 
census  returns  contain  figures  for  Europeans  only,  the  following  figures  are  based 
on  the  1911  enumeration: 

Racial  Distkibdtion 


Cape 

Orange 

Union 

Province 

Natal 

Transvaal 

Free  State 

Total  Population  .  . 

.  5,973,394 

2,564,965 

1,194,043 

1,686,212 

528,174 

White  

.  1,276,242 

582,377 

98,114 

420,562 

175,189 

4,019,006 

1,519,939 

953,398 

1,219,845 

325,824 

152,309 

7,690 

133,439 

11,072 

108 

525,837 

454,959 

9,092 

34,733 

27,053 

The  significant  facts  in  this  table  are: 

1.  That  the  white  population  in  the  Union  is  22  per  cent  of  the  total.  Orange 
Free  State,  with  33  per  cent,  has  the  largest  proportion  of  white;  Transvaal,  with  25 
per  cent  white  is  next;  Cape  Province,  with  23  per  cent,  is  third;  and  Natal,  with 
only  8  per  cent  white,  has  the  smallest  proportion. 

The  division  of  the  white  population  on  the  basis  of  language  has  considerable 
significance  in  the  development  of  the  Native  groups.  According  to  the  1918  census 
about  half  of  this  group  speak  both  Dutch  and  English,  and  the  other  half,  speaking 
only  one  language,  are  about  equally  divided  between  English  and  Dutch.  The 
extremes  of  the  language  groups  are  in  Natal,  with  75  per  cent  English-speaking,  17 
♦From  Colonial  Lists,  1919. 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


183 


per  cent  bilingual,  and  5  per  cent  Dutch-speaking,  and  in  the  Free  State,  with  50 
per  cent  bilingual,  40  per  cent  Dutch-speaking,  and  7  per  cent  English-speaking. 
Even  more  significant  than  the  language  groups  is  the  fact  that  nearly  85  per  cent  of 
the  white  population  were  born  within  the  Union,  an  emphatic  evidence  of  the  per- 
manency of  white  interest  in  South  Africa. 

2.  That  the  Cape  Province  has  over  455,000  colored  people,  that  is,  persons  of 
mixed  white  and  African  origin;  and  Natal  has  133,000  Asiatics.  The  influence  of 
anti-Asiatic  laws  in  the  Transvaal  and  the  Free  State  explains  the  small  number 
of  Asiatics  in  these  provinces.  The  colored  or  mixed  people  in  South  Africa  are 
rather  sharply  differentiated  from  the  Natives  by  the  public  opinion,  customs,  and 
language  of  both  the  white  and  the  colored  groups.  The  considerable  group  of 
Asiatics  in  Natal  has  obtained  special  provisions  and  rights  that  are  not  accorded 
to  the  Natives.  This  fact  is  increasingly  developing  a  consciousness  of  injustice  on 
the  part  of  the  Native  people. 

3.  That  the  Bantu  or  Native  people  constitute  the  largest  proportion  in  the 
Union  and  in  each  province.  Cape  Province  has  over  a  million  and  a  half;  Transvaal 
a  million  and  a  quarter;  Natal  almost  a  million;  and  Free  State  about  a  third  of  a 
million.  The  real  concern  of  this  study  is  the  education  of  this  largest  group  in  South 
Africa.  Without  the  effective  development  of  this  group  in  health,  economic  condi- 
tions, and  character,  the  future  progress  of  South  Africa  will  be  seriously  retarded. 


Density  of  Population 

Cape  Orange 

Province  Natal  Transvaal  Free  State 

Total                                                          10.00  37.40          19.56  13.84 

White                                                           2.23  3.45            4.51  3.60 

Non-white                                                  7.77  33.95          15.05  10.24 

The  great  unoccupied  areas  of  Cape  Province  are  reflected  in  the  small  number 
of  persons  to  the  square  mile.  The  low  density  of  the  Free  State,  only  little  more  than 
that  of  the  Cape,  is  partly  due  to  soil  condition,  but  probably  much  more  to  the  con- 
servative policies  of  the  Boer  population  who  rather  fear  immigration.  Natal,  with 
37  to  the  square  mile,  is  the  best  occupied  province  of  the  Union.  The  character  of 
the  soil  and  the  climatic  conditions  probably  account  for  this  more  satisfactory 
occupation  of  the  land.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Natal  has  a  higher  density  than 
the  other  provinces  for  the  white  as  well  as  for  the  colored  population.  There  is 
room  for  great  increase  of  population  in  every  part  of  the  Union.  The  sparse  condition 
of  population  in  a  land  of  great  undeveloped  resources  calls  for  the  development  of 
increased  skill  for  the  available  labor  supply. 

Rural  and  Urban  Distribution  of  Bantu  People 

Cape  Orange 

Union         Province         Natal      Transvaal  Free  State 

Urban                                508,142         113,143        35,967         316,686  42,346 

Rural                               3,508,907       1,406,240       917,011         902,719  282,937 


184 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


This  table  shows  that  three  miUion  and  a  half  of  the  Bantu  or  Native  peoples  are 
living-  in  rural  areas.  This  is  88  per  cent  of  all  the  Natives  in  the  Union.  The  largest 
proportion  of  rural  Natives  is  in  Natal,  with  96  per  cent  of  the  total;  Cape  Province 
with  93  per  cent  rural  Natives  is  next.  The  situation  in  the  Transvaal,  which  has  74 
per  cent  rural  Natives,  the  smallest  proportion  of  the  four  provinces,  is  explained  by 
the  large  number  of  Natives  employed  in  the  mines  of  Johannesburg.  It  is  evident 
that  the  education  of  the  Native  population  should  be  strongly  rural  in  its  emphasis. 

RuPAL  AND  Urban  Distribution  of  White  and  Mixed  Population 


Cape  Orange 

\Miite  Union  Province  Natal  Transvaal  Free  State 

Urban   658,286  £89,107  62,732  251,468  54,979 

Rural   615,028  291,664  35,114  168,406  119,844 

Mixed 

Urban   311,440  217,327  54,289  31,355  8,469 

Rural   366,298  245,045  88,177  14,401  18,675 


The  white  and  mixed  population  are  about  equally  divided  between  urban  and 
rural  in  the  Union  as  a  whole  and  in  Cape  Province.  In  Natal  the  whites  are  63  per 
cent  urban  and  the  Asiatics  are  72  per  cent  riu-al.  In  the  Transvaal  the  whites  are  59 
per  cent  urban  and  the  mixed  are  70  per  cent  urban.  This  is  probably  explained  by 
the  large  city  groups  of  Johannesburg  and  Pretoria.  In  the  Free  State  both  groups 
are  more  than  two-thirds  rural.  The  1918  census  shows  an  increase  of  14.3  per  cent 
in  the  urban  population  for  the  Union,  and  only  8.4  per  cent  for  the  rural  groups. 

Interaction  of  Racial  Groups 

The  interaction  of  the  racial  groups  statistically  presented  in  the  above  tables 
has  not  only  determined  the  present  condition  of  the  Natives,  but  has  also  exerted  a 
large  influence  on  the  policies  for  their  development.  The  more  important  results  of 
this  interaction  have  been  admirably  summarized  by  Dr.  C.  T.  Loram  in  the  quotations 
given  below  from  his  book  on  "The  Education  of  the  South  African  Native."  State- 
ments of  other  results  are  added  on  the  basis  of  observation  and  conference  with 
representative  white  and  black  leaders  in  South  Africa. 

1.  Passing  of  the  Native  Tribal  System 

The  Native  tribal  system  passed  away  with  European  contacts.  Dr.  Loram  writes : 

The  most  far-reaching  effect  of  the  European  colonization  of  South  Africa  has  been  the  change  it 
has  wrought  upon  the  Native's  mode  of  life.  The  Native  was  originally  a  pastoralist.  Before  the  days 
of  the  white  man,  when  the  Natives  were  fewer,  the  black  man  grazed  his  flocks  and  herds  on  the  un- 
occupied countryside.  Around  his  kraal  would  be  found  the  small,  ill-cultivated  patches  of  maize,  KaflBr 
corn,  and  pumpkin,  which  provided  his  daily  sustenance;  but  this  was  only  a  minor  and  toilsome  concern 
to  be  looked  after  by  the  w'omen-folk.  The  wealth  of  the  Bantu  consisted  in  the  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  and 
(later)  horses,  which  grazed  on  the  natural  pastures.  The  coming  of  the  white  man  man  served  at  first 
to  improve  the  lot  of  the  black,  insofar  as  it  gave  him  some  measure  of  protection  from  his  enemies. 
Freed  from  the  dread  of  tribal  raids  and  massacres,  he  was  able  to  live  his  life  of  ease  and  gaiety.  His 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


185 


women-folk  cultivated  the  gardens,  his  sons  herded  his  flocks  and  herds,  and  he,  the  lord  of  creation,  could 
spend  his  time  in  luinting,  feasting,  and  sleeping.  To  be  sure,  he  sometimes  owed  certain  services,  such 
as  ploughing  and  reaping,  to  the  white  man  on  whose  farm  he  lived;  but  these  were  generally  light,  and 
in  any  case,  if  thej'  became  burdensome,  he  could  move  on  to  the  unoccupied  government  or  crown  lands, 
where  he  could  live  rent  free.  This  idyllic  state  of  affairs  was  destroyed  forever  by  the  new  settlers  from 
Europe,  who,  fired  with  zeal  for  more  improve<l  methods  of  farming,  demanded  that  the  farms  be  culti- 
vated more  intensively,  and  that  the  crown  lands  be  opened  up  for  European  settlement.  While  the 
governments  agreed  to  this,  they  wisely  set  aside  tracts  of  land  as  locations  or  reserves  exclusively  for 
Native  occupation. 

Concomitant  with  the  enclosiu-e  of  the  lands  and  the  more  intimate  relationship  between  white  and 
black  have  come  marked  changes  in  the  social  organization  of  the  Bantu  people.,  the  passing  of  the  system 
of  communal  tenure  of  land,  and  the  rapid  growth  of  individualism.  In  the  old  days  tribalism  was  the 
universal  system  of  social  organization  among  the  Bantu,  as  it  is,  indeed,  the  prevailing  system  today. 
Each  member  of  the  tribe  recognized  and  gave  willing  allegiance  to  the  chief  as  the  hereditary  repre- 
sentative of  the  tribal  spirit.  The  individual  was  nothing,  the  tribe  everything.  Apart  from  the  tribe 
the  individual  had  no  rights.  This  almost  superstitious  reverence  for  the  chief  was  accompanied  by  strong 
family  discipline  and  a  close  attachment  to  one  another  of  members  of  the  same  tribe.  While  not  a  com- 
munist in  any  organized  way,  the  Bantu  was  always  ready  to  assist  his  fellow-tribesman  in  time  of  need. 

While  tribalism  remains  the  social  system  in  the  remoter  and  less  enlightened  parts  of  the  country, 
there  are  abundant  signs  that  it  is  breaking  down  among  the  more  intelligent  and  better  informed  Natives 
as  a  result  of  the  conscious  or  unconscious  influence  of  the  white  man.  Basutoland,  the  Transvaal,  and 
Zululand  remain  on  the  whole  true  to  the  old  tribal  system,  whereas  the  Natives  in  the  Transkei  and  in 
Natal  are  rapidly  tending  towards  indiv  idualism.  Chiefs  deplore  the  limitation  of  their  influence  and  the 
disappearance  of  tribal  loyalty,  while  parents  admit  their  lack  of  control  over  their  sons  and  daughters. 
The  decline  of  the  communal  land  system  is  seen  in  the  Transkei,  where  the  Natives  are  exercising  their 
option  and  in  increasing  numbers  are  voluntarily  coming  under  a  system  of  individual  tenure. 

2.   The  Native  in  the  Towns 

Describing  the  situation  of  the  Native  in  the  towns,  Dr.  Loram  continues: 

Forced  by  economic  pressure  to  go  to  the  towns,  the  Native  has  adapted  himself  in  his  own  way  to  this 
new  environment.  While  little  affected  by  the  finer  side  of  the  life  of  a  nineteenth-century  European 
city,  he  has  not  been  slow  to  assimilate  its  more  primitive  and  less  worthy  features.  As  laborer  in  the 
mine,  or  domestic  servant  in  the  house,  he  has  been  under  influences  for  evil  too  potent  for  his  powers  of 
resistance. 

As  a  rule  the  Native  returns  to  his  kraal  after  his  term  of  service  has  expired,  and  too  often  disseminates 
disease  and  inculcates  evil  habits  among  his  fellow-tribesmen.  There  is,  however,  an  increasing  number 
of  Natives  who  live  more  or  less  permanently  in  the  city,  and  this  number  is  likely  to  increase  as  the  demand 
for  labor  increases  and  as  provision  is  made  for  married  men  in  the  urban  locations. 

In  some  European  homes,  on  the  other  hand,  the  employers  take  thought  for  the  physical,  moral, 
and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  Natives;  but  these  are  the  exception,  and  indifference  is  the  rule.  The  un- 
suitable housing  provision  for  female  Native  domestic  servants,  the  lack  of  supervision  on  the  part  of 
most  employers,  and  the  consequent  danger  of  demoralization  of  the  girls,  are  the  chief  obstacles  towards 
securing  a  supply  of  trained  female  domestic  servants  in  European  homes.  As  things  are,  the  parents 
are  afraid  to  allow  their  daughters  to  enter  domestic  service,  and  thus  the  chief  avenue  of  useful  and  suit- 
able employment  is  closed  to  the  products  of  the  mission  industrial  schools  for  girls. 

The  housing  of  the  Native  people  in  the  municipahties  is  probably  the  most  acute 
of  many  problems  connected  with  the  welfare  of  urban  Natives.  The  present  arrange- 
ment segregates  them  in  what  is  technically  called  "locations."  With  few  exceptions 
these  "locations"  are  a  conglomeration  of  huts,  unfit  for  human  habitation.  The 


186 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Kiniberley  huts  made  of  discarded  pieces  of  tin  are  an  example  of  the  worst  form  of 
housing.  These  are  h)w  squatty  shacks,  with  oval-shaped  covering  resembling  the 
Eskimo  igloo,  into  the  darkness  and  dirt  of  which  the  Natives  crawl  for  shelter 
and  sleep.  Fortunately  the  Union,  provincial,  and  municipal  governments  are  now 
giving  serious  consideration  to  this  perplexing  problem.  Durban  and  Bloemfontein 
have  already  made  notable  improvements.  Others  are  now  definitely  committed  to 
programs  of  reform.  Still  more  fortimately,  the  problem  is  limited  to  the  12  per  cent 
who  work  in  the  city.  The  comfort  of  this  observation,  however,  is  modified  by  the 
frequent  and  too  general  exchange  between  urban  and  rural  areas. 

3.  Government  Efforts  to  Control  Native  Affairs 

Among  the  important  efforts  to  solve  the  problem  of  race  relations  by  control 
are  "Pass  Laws,"  "Segregation"  and  other  forms  of  control  exercised  by  the  Native 
Affairs  Department.  The  "Pass  Laws"  require  that  each  Native  must  obtain  and 
carry  with  him  a  written  pass  of  identification  from  the  Union  or  from  the  provincial  or 
municipal  government.  In  some  provinces  there  is  a  multiplicity  of  passes,  with  con- 
siderable possibility  of  harm.  The  Free  State  requirement  of  passes  for  women  is 
especially  resented  by  the  Natives.  Segregation  Acts  have  limited  the  Native  in  many 
ways.  Some  compel  him  to  live  in  "city  locations,"  where  living  conditions  are 
often  not  only  uncomfortable  but  dangerous  to  health  and  morals.  Others  assign 
him  to  rural  areas  with  land  too  poor  or  too  limited  to  afford  a  living.  Still  others 
have  separated  him  from  the  normal  life  of  the  country  until  he  becomes  conscious  of 
a  discouraging  sense  of  inferiority. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  the  variety  of  conditions  which  have  impelled 
the  government  to  resort  to  these  two  types  of  legislation.  Some  have  felt  that  an 
undeveloped  people  must  be  protected  by  regular  reports  to  the  government  and  by 
assignment  to  land  areas  which  the  competition  of  more  capable  racial  groups  could 
not  possess.  Others  have  desired  to  keep  the  undeveloped  groups  "in  their  place"  of 
servitude  to  the  superior  group  or  separation  from  the  ruling  classes.  Whatever  may 
be  the  merits  of  these  laws,  the  Natives  are  increasingly  opposed  to  them.  In  the 
Cape  Province  it  has  been  held  by  the  courts  that  the  segregation  act  is  inoperative 
as  it  impairs  the  opportunity  of  the  black  citizen  to  acquire  the  franchise.  The  segre- 
gation of  rural  areas  has  been  largely  defeated  by  the  failure  or  refusal  of  the  white 
land-owners  to  remove  from  the  areas  assigned  to  the  Natives,  and  by  the  desire  of 
the  white  land-owners  to  retain  Native  labor  in  their  areas. 

According  to  the  Act  of  Union,  the  executive  authority  in  Native  matters  is 
vested  in  the  Minister  of  Native  Affairs.  Up  to  the  present  this  office  has  been  held 
by  the  Prime  Minister,  who  is  represented  in  the  Department  of  Native  Affairs  by  a 
permanent  secretary  acting  for  the  Prime  Minister.  By  the  same  act,  representation 
of  the  Natives  in  Parliament  is  provided  by  the  appointment  to  the  Senate  of  four 
members  who  "shall  be  selected  on  the  ground  mainly  of  their  thorough  acquaintance 
by  reason  of  their  official  experience,  or  otherwise,  with  the  reasonable  wants  and 
wishes  of  the  colored  races  of  South  Africa."  It  is  felt  by  the  Natives  that  this  repre- 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


187 


sentation  is  inadcqu.ate.  The  franchise  (luahfif-ations  differ  in  the  four  provinces. 
There  is  manhood  suffrage  in  the  Transvaal  for  Eurojjeans.  The  acts  in  force  before 
the  formation  of  the  Union  (1910)  were  taken  over  and  have  remained  unaltered.  In 
the  Cape  Province  Natives  can  obtain  the  franchise  if  they  own  property  to  tlie  vahie 
of  75  pounds  Sterhng,  or  are  in  receipt  of  wages  amounting  to  not  less  than  50  pounds 
per  annum,  the  qualifications  being  the  same  for  Europeans  in  that  province.  There 
were,  in  1919,  33,139  non-European  voters  in  the  Cape  Province.  The  possession  of  the 
franchise  by  these  Natives  almost  prevented  the  formation  of  the  Union  in  1910  and 
is  not  approved  of  by  the  other  provinces,  but  the  Act  of  Union  entrenched  the  rights 
of  these  people  by  stating  that  Natives  who  possess  the  vote,  or  who  might  possess  it, 
should  not  be  disqualified  except  by  a  majority  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  both 
Houses  of  Parliament  sitting  together. 

The  Department  of  Native  Affairs  is  divided  into  two  distinct  branches,  namely, 
district  administration  and  Native  labor.  Both  are  under  the  direction  of  the  Secre- 
tary for  Native  Affairs  in  Pretoria,  whose  expenditure  for  the  year  1917-1918  was 
£308,767.  The  system  of  district  administration  differs  in  the  various  provinces. 
In  the  four  provinces  of  the  Union  there  are  Native  chiefs  and  headmen,  many  of 
whom  are  subsidized  by  the  government.  These  headmen  have  jurisdiction  in  petty 
matters,  but  their  decision  can  be  appealed  from  before  a  magistrate: 

In  Cape  Province,  exclusive  of  the  Transkei,  the  administration  of  Native  affairs  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  magistrates  of  the  Department  of  Justice,  being  assisted  in  the  more  populous  Native  areas  by  super- 
intendents of  Natives  who  are  officials  of  the  Native  Affairs  Department.  In  the  Transkeian  territories, 
Native  affairs  are  administered  by  a  chief  magistrate  with  the  help  of  the  Transkeian  General  Council. 

In  Natal  a  chief  Native  commissioner,  with  headquarters  at  Pietermaritzburg,  deals  administratively 
with  Natives  throughout  Natal  and  Zululand.  He  is  assisted  by  a  staff  of  inspectors  of  Locations  and 
Mission  Reserves  who  are  officers  of  the  Native  Affairs  Department.  In  a  number  of  districts,  however, 
he  has  to  rely  on  the  local  magistrate,  who  is  an  official  of  the  Department  of  Justice. 

In  the  Transvaal  all  magistrates  are  controlled  by  the  Department  of  Justice  who  in  this  capacity 
are,  for  practical  purposes,  officers  of  the  Native  Affairs  Department.  In  the  more  densely  populated 
parts  the  magistrates  are  assisted  by  sub-commissioners. 

In  the  Orange  Free  State  the  magistrates  act  as  the  representatives  of  the  Native  Affairs  Department, 
assisted  in  some  cases  by  supervisors. 

The  Sub-Department  of  Native  Labor,  responsible  for  the  supervision  and  control 
of  Native  labor  in  industries,  comprises  a  Director  of  Native  Labor  with  headquarters 
at  Johannesburg,  inspectors,  protectors  of  Natives,  and  pass  officials  who  visit  the 
compounds  and  deal  judicially  with  petty  disputes  and,  generally,  watch  over  the 
interest  and  welfare  of  Natives  employed  in  industrial  areas. 

4.  Remedial  Measures  and  Present  Tendencies 

With  full  recognition  of  the  difficulties  of  South  African  Native  problems,  there 
is  significant  evidence  that  both  the  government  and  private  associations  are  begin- 
ning to  give  earnest  consideration  to  the  perplexities  of  the  situation.  Undoubtedly 
the  most  significant  basis  of  hope  is  in  the  attitude,  ability,  and  personality  of  General 
J.  C.  Smuts,  the  Premier  of  the  Union  and  the  Minister  of  Native  Affairs.  Nor  is  the 


188 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


confidence  for  the  fnliire  limited  to  the  possible  achievements  of  General  Smuts, 
remarkable  as  he  is  in  intellectual  capacity,  experience,  and  world-wide  sympathy. 
The  more  permanent  hope  is  in  the  wisdom  of  a  South  African  voting  public  who 
have  selected  a  man  of  such  statesmanship  and  vision. 

Faith  in  the  Premier  has  been  strengthened  by  his  first  act  in  the  appointment  of 
a  commission  to  study  the  important  phases  of  the  Native  problem  and  to  formulate 
a  practical  program  for  the  sound  development  of  the  Native  people.  The  com- 
position of  the  commission  gives  promise  that  the  program  will  be  based  upon  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  South  African  elements  and  that  it  will  be  in  accordance 
with  the  principles  of  justice  to  all  parties  concerned.  The  three  members  of  the 
commission  are  as  follows:  Dr.  A.  W.  Roberts,  a  Scotchman,  who,  as  a  teacher  in 
Lovedale  for  forty  years,  has  shown  his  devotion  to  the  Natives  and  his  faith  in  their 
possibilities;  Brigadier-General  L.  A.  S.  Lemmer,  of  Boer  parentage,  a  South  African 
who  can  interpret  the  attitudes  and  experience  of  this  large  and  influential  group  in 
their  relation  to  the  Native  population;  Dr.  C.  T.  Loram,  a  South  African  of  English 
parentage,  who  combines  the  best  experience  and  training  of  both  South  Africa  and 
England  and  has  added  thereto  a  thorough  knowledge  of  American  experience  in 
dealing  with  the  race  problem.  In  addition  to  a  scientific  grasp  of  the  facts  in  the 
problem,  he  has  a  deep  and  unwavering  faith  both  in  the  sense  of  justice  of  the  white 
group  and  in  the  possibilities  of  the  Native  group.  The  possibilities  of  this  com- 
mission are  great  and  the  expectations  of  the  Natives  and  their  friends  are  high. 
General  Smuts'  confidence  in  the  commission  is  indicated  by  his  comment:  "Of  course 
they  are  expecting  much  from  us  and  it  will  be  our  duty  to  see  that  these  hopes  are 
fulfilled." 

Of  the  many  activities  possible  to  the  commission,  it  is  probable  that  the  more 
important  toward  which  it  will  direct  the  thought  and  action  of  both  government 
and  private  groups  will  be  as  follows : 

1.  Study  of  the  Conditions — Intelligent  appreciation  of  racial  conditions  is  as 
essential  to  sound  policies  as  accurate  diagnosis  is  to  the  physician's  prescription. 
Students  of  racial  problems  have  long  ago  learned  that  proximity  of  one  race  to 
another  is  no  guarantee  of  mutual  knowledge.  The  commission  will  therefore 
encourage  students  and  statesmen  to  know  the  customs, needs,  and  possibilities  of  the 
Native  people,  their  health,  their  housing,  their  recreations,  their  occupations,  in 
short,  their  manner  of  life.  Efforts  to  initiate  remedial  action  for  recognized  needs 
will  not  be  deferred  while  such  studies  are  in  process.  The  purpose  is  to  ascertain  facts 
and  to  encourage  the  white  people  to  develop  the  habit  of  observing  and  studying  the 
life  of  the  Natives.  In  this  it  is  hoped  to  obtain  the  participation  of  educational 
institutions,  churches,  and  social  organizations,  so  that  study  clubs  of  thoughtful 
people  may  become  general  and  the  Native  problem  considered  on  the  basis  of  knowl- 
edge rather  than  prejudice. 

2.  Improvement  of  Education  Facilities — The  commission  realizes  that  the  Native 
people  can  be  developed  only  by  sound  education  related  to  their  health,  their 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


189 


economic  well-being,  and  their  character.  The  schools  must  inculcate  self-respect, 
ability  in  the  use  of  the  natural  resources  of  their  environment,  and  willingness  to 
serve  their  Native  community.  Native  leaders  must  be  able  to  understand  the 
historical  processes  through  which  races  develop  a  sense  of  responsibility.  The  com- 
mission hopes  to  influence  educational  activities  so  that  schools  may  be  more  effecitive 
in  preparing  the  Native  people  for  life  in  South  Africa.  The  changes  and  extensions 
needed  in  the  present  school  facilities  will  appear  in  the  types  of  schools  described  in 
Part  II  of  this  chapter. 

3.  Encouragement  of  Interracial  Cooperation — The  members  of  the  South  African 
Commission  early  recognized  the  fundamental  iinjjortance  of  interracial  cooperation 
and  they  are  now  recommending  various  forms  of  such  cooperation.  The  present 
world  difficulties  and  the  only  successful  efforts  to  solve  them  prove  clearly  that  one 
grouj)  cannot  solve  interracial  misunderstandings  without  the  cooperation  of  the 
other  group,  however  weak  and  ignorant  that  group  may  be.  A  few  South  African 
statesmen  began  to  realize  this  some  years  ago  and  put  forth  efforts  to  develop  such 
cooi)eration.  The  most  interesting  and  important  of  these  beginnings  is  in  the  Native 
Bhunga  of  the  Transkeian  territories.  The  Bhunga  is  in  a  sense  much  more  than  a 
form  of  cooperation.  It  is  a  movement  toward  Native  self-government,  authorized 
by  the  Union  and  provincial  governments,  for  the  Transkeian  Native  territories,  in 
which  residence  by  white  people  is  limited  to  the  towns.  Missionaries  and  a  few 
traders  are  the  only  exceptions  to  this  rule  excluding  white  people  from  rural  areas. 
The  origin  and  character  of  the  Bhunga  or  Native  General  Council  have  been  described 
as  follows: 

In  1895  the  government  created  district  councils  in  four  districts  and  since  then  it  has  allowed,  but 
not  compelled,  other  districts  to  join  this  number,  the  policy  being  not  to  force  the  system  on  the  people 
but  to  allow  them  to  adopt  it  if  they  thought  it  in  their  interest.  There  are  now  18  districts,  in  each  of 
which  is  a  district  council  consisting  of  the  magistrate  and  six  members.  Some  of  the  members  are  nomi- 
nated by  the  government  and  some  elected  by  the  Natives.  These  district  councils  meet  quarterly  or 
oftener  and  advise  the  magistrate  regarding  local  matters.  Each  district  council  nominates  two  of  its 
members  as  members  of  the  general  council.  The  government  nominates  another  member  and  these 
members  together  with  the  magistrates  form  the  Transkeian  Territories  General  Council,  which  consists 
at  present  of  the  chief  magistrate  as  presiding  officer,  18  resident  magistrates,  and  S-i  Native  members. 
The  council  meets  once  a  year  and  the  sitting  generally  lasts  a  fortnight.  Matters  discussed  by  the  council 
are  such  as  Native  education,  marriages  and  inheritance,  diseases  amongst  stock,  control  of  commonages. 
The  procedure  is  parliamentary  in  form  and  a  perusal  of  the  Annual  Blue  Book  containing  the  record  of 
the  proceedings  would  show  that  the  Natives  have  a  distinct  mastery  over  parliamentary  procedure. 
Indeed,  the  dignity  of  their  deliberations  and  the  soundness  of  their  opinions  would  put  to  shame  many 
state  legislatures  or  provincial  councils. 

The  Transkeian  territories  are  distinctive  also  inasmuch  as  here  the  Natives  tax  themselves  for  the 
maintenance  of  public  services.  Each  Native  male  adult  pays  an  annual  rate  of  ten  shillings.  The  number 
of  rate  payers  is  now  159,600,  and  the  annual  revenue  from  this  and  other  sources  for  the  financial  year 
1918-1919  was  £103,774.  The  total  revenue  from  the  inception  of  the  council  system  in  1895  up  to  June, 
1919,  was  approximately  £1,194,132.  The  chief  magistrate  and  the  European  secretary  of  the  council, 
with  the  assistance  of  three  Native  members,  prepare  the  estimates  which  are  then  submitted  to  the  council. 
After  being  approved  by  the  governor-general  they  are  acted  on  by  the  European  executive  ofiicers.  The 
council  maintains  in  repair  3,300  miles  of  roads,  spends  money  on  dipping  vats,  makes  grants  to  schools 
and  hospitals,  and  maintains  two  institutions  for  the  teachin^of  agriculture. 


190 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


This  somewhat  detailed  account  of  the  council  system  has  been  given  because  it  is  the  famous  Glen 
Grey  System  of  Native  administration  which  has  found  favor  with  the  best  thinkers  on  Native  policy  in 
South  Africa,  and  which  has  been  laid  down  by  the  Native  Affairs  Act  of  1920  as  the  basis  for  future  de- 
velopment. A  great  number  of  Native  areas  will  be  set  out  and  in  these  the  council  system  will  be  gradually 
introduced.  Inasmuch  as  the  system  combines  Natives  in  an  advisory  capacity  with  Europeans  in  super- 
vising and  administrative  positions,  it  should  succeed  in  slowly  educating  the  Native  to  more  complete 
self-government. 

Another  important  beginning  of  interracial  cooperation  is  found  in  the  Native 
Welfare  Associations  of  Durban,  Pietermaritzburg,  Pretoria,  Johannesburg,  Bloem- 
fontein,  Grahamstown,  Cape  Town,  Umtata,  and  East  London.  This  movement  was 
begun  in  Durban  by  the  late  Maurice  Evans  and  Dr.  F.  B.  Bridgman  of  the  American 
Zulu  Mission,  in  order  to  study  Native  questions  and  to  educate  public  opinion  on 
matters  relating  to  Native  welfare.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  people  of  Natal, 
without  knowing  anything  of  interracial  committees  in  America,  have  been  pro- 
ceeding in  the  direction  of  American  experience.  There  has  been  one  important 
difference  between  the  American  and  the  South  African  committees,  namely,  the 
extent  of  the  participation  of  black  people  in  the  movement.  Owing  to  the  much 
smaller  proportion  of  educated  black  people  in  South  Africa  than  in  America,  their 
participation  has  been  correspondingly  less.  The  most  vital  feature  of  the  Ameri- 
can movement  has  been  the  arrangement  for  local  interchange  of  ideas  and  feelings 
between  the  white  and  black  people.  This  has  been  done  through  the  organization 
of  local  committees  of  white  people  and  local  committees  of  black  people,  with  arrange- 
ment for  free  and  frequent  interchange  between  the  committees.  With  the  increased 
study  of  Native  conditions  by  white  people  and  with  improvement  and  extension 
of  real  education  for  the  Natives,  the  movement  to  multiply  interracial  committees 
should  extend  in  the  comparatively  near  future  so  that  the  white  and  black  people 
may  cooperate  for  the  development  of  the  great  sub-continent  so  wonderfully  favored 
by  climate,  beauty,  and  wealth  of  resources.* 

II.  EDUCATION 

The  primary  purpose  of  this  summary  of  educational  facilities  and  methods  in 
South  Africa  is  to  transmit  the  experience  of  the  most  advanced  section  of  Africa  to 
other  parts  of  the  continent.  The  evaluation  is,  therefore,  in  the  main,  qualitative 
rather  than  quantitative.  The  important  features  to  be  presented  are  first,  the 
educational  provisions  of  the  Union  and  provincial  governments,  and,  second,  the 
activities  of  typical  institutions  for  the  education  of  the  Native  youth.  Practically 
all  of  the  latter  are  mission  schools  maintained  by  mission  societies  with  the  aid  of 
the  government.  In  view  of  Dr.  Loram's  book,  "The  Education  of  the  South  African 
Native,"  it  has  not  seemed  necessary  to  attempt  a  comprehensive  evaluation  either  of 
government  or  mission  activities  in  education. 

Government  and  Education 

The  fundamental  fact  in  the  relation  of  government  to  the  education  of  the 

Natives  is  the  provision  of  the  "Act  hi  Union"  that  all  higher  education  shall  be  under 

*Since  the  above  was  written  the  cooperation  of  the  Natives  has  been  sought  and  obtained  and  all 
but  one  of  the  societies  have  Native  committees  associated  with  them. 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


191 


the  control  of  tlio  Union  Dqiartment  of  Education  and  all  other  educ-ation  under  the 
four  provincial  governments.  The  result  has  been  the  develoi)nient  of  five  distinct 
educational  policies  differhig  widely  from  one  another.  It  is  therefore  important 
to  obtain  some  measure  of  the  wisdom  and  effectiveness  of  these  policies  as  they 
relate  to  the  development  of  the  Native  youth.  To  what  extent  do  the  school  systems 
provide  for  improvement  of  the  masses  of  the  Native  youth.''  Are  the  activities 
related  to  the  hygienic,  economic,  and  character  needs  of  a  people  emerging  from  a 
primitive  state?  Is  there  an  opportunity  for  the  preparation  of  Native  leaders  who 
can  distinguish  between  the  privileges  and  responsibilities  of  civilization,  who  realize 
the  processes  through  which  civilization  has  been  developed,  who  know  the  value  of 
health  and  industry  and  character  in  the  growth  of  a  race.f* 

The  first  test  of  an  educational  system  is  in  the  extent  to  which  provision  is  made 
for  the  masses  of  the  youth.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  children  of  school  age, 
6  to  14  years,  constitute  about  one-fifth  of  the  total  population.  On  this  basis  the 
Native  and  colored  children  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa  in  1918  numbered  about 
1,100,000.  Of  this  number  there  were  220,000  children  enrolled  in  the  state  and 
state-aided  schools  of  the  Union.  This  is  but  20  per  cent  of  the  total  number  for 
whom  provision  must  ultimately  be  made  if  the  Union  is  to  develop  its  magnificent 
resources  of  soil,  minerals  and  population.  It  is  only  fair  to  say,  however,  that  the 
corresponding  percentage  for  1911  was  17,  from  which  an  advance  of  three  per  cent 
was  made  in  the  seven  years  between  1911  and  1918. 

As  the  1918  statistics  of  non-European  population  in  the  provinces  have  not 
been  issued,  the  only  available  measure  of  school  enrollment  is  the  census  of  1911. 
These  figures  show  that  the  percentages  of  non-European  children,  6  to  14  years, 
enrolled  in  school  in  that  year  were:  Cape  Province,  30  per  cent;  Natal,  8  per  cent; 
Transvaal,  6  per  cent;  Free  State,  14  per  cent.  These  percentages  have  been  con- 
siderably changed  by  the  increases  in  the  school  enrollment  of  non-Europeans  from 
1912  to  1918.  In  Cape  Province  this  enrollment  was  120,220  in  1912  and  150,000  in 
1918;  Natal,  23,300  in  1912  and  32,000  in  1918;  Transvaal,  15,000  in  1912  and  26,000 
in  1918;  and  Free  State,  10,500  in  1912  and  14,000  in  1918. 

Government  appropriations  for  education  throw  much  light  upon  the  above 
percentages  of  enrollment.  According  to  the  Union  Year  Book,  the  educational 
appropriations  and  Native  taxes  for  1918  were  as  follows: 


Hut  and  Poll  Tax  paid  by  Natives    ....      £821,953      £119,170    £211,307      £416,459  £75,017 

The  above  statistics  lead  clearly  to  the  following  observations : 

1.  Through  the  extensive  help  of  mission  societies  the  Union  of  South  Africa  has 
enrolled  in  school  about  one-fifth  of  the  non-European  children  between  the  ages 
of  6  and  14  years. 


White  and  non-European  .  . 

Non-European  

Percentage  for  non-European 


Cape  Orange 

Union        Province  Natal  Transvaal  Free  State 

£3,052,883    £1,150,525  £285,467  £1,143,350  £473,540 

327,741         230,489  50,992  42,260  4,000 

10                20  17  3  1 


192 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


2.  The  government  assigns  10  per  cent  of  the  total  school  appropriation  to  the 
schools  of  the  non-Europeans,  constituting  80  per  cent  of  the  population. 

3.  Cape  Province  and  Natal  make  much  larger  provisions  for  the  education  of 
the  non-Europeans  than  the  Transvaal  and  the  Free  State. 

4.  With  the  exception  of  Cape  Province,  the  present  educational  appropriations 
are  but  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  hut  and  poll  tax  paid  by  the  Natives.  As  the 
Natives  undoubtedly  pay  other  forms  of  tax,  including  their  share  of  the  indirect 
taxation  levied  upon  the  whole  population,  the  real  disproportion  is  considerably 
greater  than  that  indicated  in  the  statistical  table. 

Comparison  of  the  1912  government  non-European  appropriation,  amounting  to 
£165,093,  with  that  of  1918,  amounting  to  £327,741,  shows  an  increase  of  almost 
100  per  cent  in  seven  years.  The  substantial  increases  were  made  by  Cape  Province, 
Natal,  and  the  Transvaal.  Unfortunately,  Orange  Free  State  has  persisted  in  limiting 
her  appropriation  to  the  £4,000  originally  agreed  upon  in  the  terms  of  the  treaty 
after  the  Boer  War.  It  is  evident  that  the  financial  appropriations  of  even  the  more 
liberal  provinces  are  far  from  adequate.  Educational  leaders  in  South  Africa  are 
emphatic  in  their  demand  for  larger  government  expenditures  for  the  education  of 
non-Europeans,  and  especially  for  the  development  of  the  Native  or  Bantu  popu- 
lation. This  point  of  view  is  well  expressed  by  Dr.  Loram  in  his  book  on  Native 
education: 

We  believe  there  are  few  who  will  be  bold  enough  to  assert  that  it  is  equitable  that  because  each  Euro- 
pean is  taxed  20  times  as  much  as  each  Native,  he  should  receive  educational  opportunities  50  times  as 
great.  Even  if  it  could  be  shown  that  other  advantages  enjoyed  by  the  Native  make  up  for  the  com- 
paratively small  amount  of  state  money  expended  on  his  education,  that  would  not  absolve  the  state  from 
the  responsibility  of  improving  and  extending  education;  for,  as  we  have  already  pointed  out,  not  only  is 
it  the  clear  duty  of  the  European  to  educate  the  Native,  but  it  is  indispensable  to  his  interests,  if  not 
actually  necessary  for  his  survival,  that  he  do  so. 

In  view  of  the  wide  variations  of  the  educational  policies  of  the  Union  and  the  four 
provinces,  it  is  necessary  to  summarize  the  more  important  facts  concerning  each 
of  these  units: 

Cape  Province 

All  reports  agree  that  Cape  Province  has  been  more  liberal  in  its  educational 
provisions  for  non-Europeans  than  the  other  three  provinces.  The  Cape  has  always 
stood  for  equality  of  treatment  of  Natives  and  Europeans.  In  the  recent  decision  to 
make  education  free,  the  province  was  consistent  in  providing  free  education  for 
both  Europeans  and  Natives.  The  salaries  of  teachers  are  paid  by  the  Educational 
Department  on  a  fixed  basis  and  free  books  and  equipment  are  provided.*  The  one 
important  difference  in  the  enactment  is  that  compulsory  education  applies  only  to 
the  white  youth. 

The  most  fundamental  defect  in  the  Cape  provision  for  the  education  of  the 
Natives  is  the  lack  of  adaptation  to  the  needs  of  the  people.  The  curriculum  and 
inspection  system,  established  in  1873,  has  been  continued  with  little  change  to  1921. 

*Recent  reports  indicate  considerable  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  Natives  for  the  failure  of  the 
government  to  make  satisfactory  adjustments  of  their  salaries. 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


193 


This  curriculum  stressed  the  three  R's  and  the  usual  sul)jects  of  the  EngHsh  school 
system.  Practically  no  provision  has  been  made  for  such  subjects  as  hygiene  and 
gardening.  In  fact  the  rigid  inspection  system  has  been  such  as  to  make  impossible 
the  introduction  of  any  subjects  outside  the  prescribed  course,  however  vital  they 
may  be  to  the  life  of  the  people.  The  devitalizing  influence  of  the  rigid  government 
system  was  observed  even  in  training  institutions  owned  by  mission  societies  but 
accepting  the  financial  aid  and  therefore  the  inspection  of  the  Educational  Depart- 
ment. Fortunately,  there  is  now  a  decided  movement  to  improve  the  curriculum 
and  to  institute  an  inspection  system  that  is  more  sympathetic  to  the  ordinary  activi- 
ties and  needs  of  the  Natives.  In  1919  the  provincial  administrator  appointed  a 
commission  to  consider  the  whole  problem  of  Native  education  and  to  recommend 
the  needed  changes  and  improvements.  The  following  observations  and  recom- 
mendations, selected  from  the  report  of  the  commission,  indicate  the  general  condi- 
tion of  Native  education  in  the  province  and  the  probable  improvements  to  be  in- 
augurated by  the  Department  of  Education : 

The  Commission  believes  that  there  is  a  consensus  of  enhghtened  opinion  that  the  scope  and  aim  of 
Native  education  should  be  limited  only  by  the  capacity  of  the  student  to  benefit  thereby,  and  that  no 
lowering  of  the  standard  of  Native  (as  compared  with  European)  education,  in  principle  or  in  practice, 
should  be  contemplated.  In  the  case  of  both  European  and  Native  schools  the  primary  objects  of  any 
course  should  be  the  training  of  character,  the  development  of  intellect,  and  the  fitting  of  the  child  for  his 
future  work  and  surroundings.  The  language  of  the  pupils,  their  home  condition,  their  social  and  mental 
environment,  their  hereditary  tribal  or  racial  instincts,  and  their  future  position  and  work  in  the  country 
must  be  considered. 

A  prime  object  is  to  afford  greater  facilities  for  vocational  and  practical  training  in  all  classes  of  schools. 
The  popular  criticism  that  school  education  is  too  "bookish"  and  trains  too  exclusively  for  clerical  or 
teaching  occupations  has  a  solid  basis.  The  overstress  of  scholasticism  in  the  curriculum  has  had  lament- 
able effects  in  the  attitude  of  Natives  towards  education  and  subsequent  vocation,  and  it  should  be  im- 
pressed upon  all  that  the  earning  of  an  honest  livelihood  in  any  capacity  is  not  beneath  the  dignity  of  an 
educated  person;  their  attention  should  likewise  be  directed  to  the  various  occupations  of  a  skilled  or  semi- 
skilled nature  in  which  those  who  have  completed  their  school  course  may  hope  to  find  employment.  Many 
parents,  brought  up  in  the  scholastic  tradition  and  seeing  the  teacher  and  class  always  before  their  eyes 
as  the  embodiment  of  its  economic  results,  have  become  obsessed  with  the  notion  that  "the  book"  contains 
the  whole  gospel  of  education,  but  there  are  signs  of  a  revulsion  of  feeling  amongst  the  most  enlightened 
Natives,  and  the  Commission  had  much  pleasure  in  receiving  from  the  Native  Farmers'  Association  of 
the  eastern  province  a  resolution  adopted  by  it  to  the  effect  "That  a  place  should  be  found  for  the  teaching 
of  agriculture  in  the  curriculum  of  Native  elementary  and  normal  education;  and  that  in  cases  where  the 
subject  clashes  with  woodwork  and  carpentry,  preference  should  be  given  to  agriculture  as  the  more  val- 
uable and  important  for  the  purposes  of  the  Natives." 

The  Commission  is  convinced  that  some  form  or  forms  of  manual  training,  educative  and  with  practical 
ends  in  view,  should  be  given  in  all  classes  of  Native  schools,  and  resolved — 

That  at  every  Native  school  teaching  above  Standard  IV  facilities  for  agricultural  training  (in  the 
case  of  boys)  and  practical  domestic  economy  (in  the  case  of  girls)  should  as  far  as  possible  be  provided. 

That  the  development  of  industrial  and  agricultural  education  will  be  provided  by  close  cooperation 
between  the  Department  of  Public  Education  and  the  Directorof  Agriculture  for  the  Transkeian  territories. 

CloseIy|allied  to  and  yet  distinct  from  the  objects  of  giving  school  education  more  practical  bearing 
on  the  future  life  and  work  of  the  pupil  is  the  movement,  which  the  Commission  supports,  to  revive  the  old 
Native  industries,  such  as  pottery,  basket-making,  and  mat  and  hat  weaving. 

It  thought  it  advisable  to  recommend  that  the  following  should  be  compulsory  subjects:  Religious  and 


194 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


moral  instruction,  hygiene,  civics,  and  courses  of  agricultural,  domestic,  and  industrial  training  directed 
to  fitting  the  future  teacher  (1)  for  carrying  out  the  manual-training  requirements  of  tlie  primary  school, 
and  i'i)  for  ameliorating  the  conditions  of  his  or  her  life  and  \vork. 

That  the  inspectors  may  be  really  helpful  the  Commission  feels  that  the  relation  between  inspector 
and  teacher  should  be  as  friendly  and  unofficial  as  possible,  and  that  the  qualifications  of  the  departmental 
officers  concerned  shoidd  fit  them  to  take  advantage  of  every  opportunity  for  a  sympathetic  understanding 
of  the  peculiar  difficulties  and  temptations  of  a  Native  teacher's  life. 

These  are  admirable  recommendations.  To  carry  them  into  eflFect  the  province 
has  appointed  a  Chief  Inspector  of  Native  Education  who  is  giving  his  whole  time 
to  the  reorganization  of  the  ciirricidum.  If  he  is  able  to  realize  the  methods  and 
standards  of  the  recommendations  made  by  the  provincial  commission,  education  in 
Cape  Province  will  become  a  standard  not  only  for  the  Union  but  also  for  all  Africa. 

Natal 

While  the  Natal  system  of  education  for  the  Natives  is  second  to  that  of  Cape 
Province  in  the  liberality  of  financial  support,  it  is  far  superior  in  general  organi- 
zation, effectiveness,  and  adaptation  to  the  real  needs  of  the  Native  people.  The 
system  is  undoubtedly  the  most  effective  organization  which  the  Education  Com- 
mission observed  anywhere  in  Africa.  With  adequate  financial  support  and  some 
improvements  now  in  process,  the  Natal  system  of  Native  schools  should  become 
the  ideal  for  all  other  systems  in  Africa. 

The  various  grades  of  schools  are  as  follows: 

1 .  Training  Institutes  for  Teachers — At  present  there  are  five  of  these  institutions, 
all  owned  by  mission  societies  and  aided  by  government  grants.  The  entrance  require- 
ment is  the  completion  of  Standard  VI.  There  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  some 
institutions  to  raise  the  standards  more  rapidly  than  the  general  level  of  Native 
education  will  justify.  The  chief  inspector  considers  it  important  to  have  the 
entrance  requirements  suflBciently  above  the  school  system  to  encourage  improve- 
ments, but  not  so  high  as  to  discourage.  The  teachers  in  the  training  colleges  were 
formerly  all  European.  Gradually  Native  teachers  are  being  introduced.  It  is 
probable  that  the  staff  will  idtimately  consist  of  Native  teachers  with  European 
principals.  Pupils  are  induced  to  complete  the  course  by  financial  grants  and  by  the 
establishment  of  a  salary  scale  depending  partly  on  the  certificate  held. 

2.  High  Schools — Natal  has  instituted  four  high  schools,  with  an  enrollment  of 
91  pupils,  in  order  to  make  provision  for  those  Native  pupils  who  desire  to  continue 
their  education  beyond  Standard  VI  without  necessarily  becoming  teachers.  The 
courses  offered  are  academic,  preparatory  to  the  Sotith  African  Native  College; 
industrial,  including  carpentry,  basket-making,  blacksmithing;  agricultural;  com- 
mercial; and  domestic  science.  Each  course  consists  of  a  section  devoted  to  academic 
subjects  similar  to  that  given  to  teachers,  and  another  section  devoted  to  the  studies 
of  the  special  course.  Thus  the  student  gives  half  his  time  to  general  education  and 
half  to  his  specialized  interest.    The  plan  is  meeting  with  success,  especially  in  the 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


105 


girls'  high  schools,  whore  the  domestic  science  course  is  very  poi)ular.  The  grants  for 
the  Native  high  schools  are  a  little  less  than  tiiose  for  the  training  colleges. 

3.  Intermediate  SchooLi — These  schools  provide  instruction  in  Standards  V  and  VI. 
There  are  at  present  35,  with  a  total  enrollment  of  1,025  pupils.  The  purpo.se  in 
differentiating  these  standards  from  those  of  the  i)rimary  school  has  been  (1)  the 
payment  of  better  salaries  to  teachers;  (2)  the  introduction  into  the  course  of  study 
of  greater  provision  for  manual  training  than  is  possible  in  the  primary  standards; 
(3)  to  consolidate  the  smaller  groups  of  pupils  in  Standards  V  and  VI  at  convenient 
centers  where  better  facilities  can  be  provided  for  these  higher  standards.  This 
arrangement  tends  to  remove  the  temptation  to  devote  too  large  a  proportion  of 
time  to  the  few  pupils  of  Standards  V  and  VI  in  the  primary  schools,  a  fault  very 
commonly  found  in  schools  that  have  both  primary  and  intermediate  standards. 
The  Natal  syllabus  for  intermediate  schools  and  the  instruction  to  teachers  are  well 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  pupils.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  courses  in  history 
and  manual  training,  which  offer  unusual  opportunities  in  these  important  subjects. 

4.  Primary  Schools — The  bulk  of  education  work  among  Natives  in  the  province 
is  done  in  304  primary  schools,  with  an  enrollment  of  25,000  children.  The  teachers 
in  these  schools  are  required  to  have  a  second-year  certificate,  except  in  remote 
districts,  where  a  first-year  certificate  is  accepted.  There  must  be  one  teacher  for 
every  forty  pupils,  but  assistants  need  not  be  qualified.  The  syllabus  for  these  schools 
is  not  regarded  as  satisfactory  by  the  Education  Department  and  plans  for  improve- 
ment are  under  consideration.* 

5.  Sub-Primary  Schools — Sub-standard  primary  schools  have  been  recognized  by 
the  government  in  order  to  assist  the  missions  that  are  endeavoring  to  introduce 
education  among  the  more  primitive  Natives.  The  requirements  for  recognition  are 
a  daily  attendance  of  12  children  and  a  teacher  who  has  completed  Standard  IV. 
The  department  allows  such  a  school  three  years  for  the  development  of  the  work  to 
the  standard  of  the  primary  school.  This  is  now  regarded  by  the  missionaries  as  a 
great  help  to  their  efforts. 

The  Natal  system  above  outlined  has  several  special  features  that  are  worthy  of 
description.   The  more  important  of  these  are  given  herewith : 

1.  Special  Administration — The  system  wisely  provides  for  the  administration 
of  Native  education  by  a  special  staff  of  oflBcials  and  an  organization  which  can  adapt 
its  efforts  to  the  needs  of  the  Native  people.  The  supervisors  are  required  to  have  a 
knowledge  of  the  Native  language,  sympathy  with  the  Native  people  and  confidence 
in  their  possibilities,  and  experience  in  dealing  with  them.  The  staff  consists  of  a 
Chief  Inspector  of  Native  Education,  with  four  assistant  inspectors,  and  two  Euro- 
pean supervisors  of  industrial  training.  Provision  has  been  made  in  the  estimates  for 
the  appointment  of  four  Natives  who  are  to  act  under  the  District  Inspector  as 
itinerant  head  teachers.  The  members  of  the  staff  are  notable  for  their  ability  and 
devotion  to  work. 

Probably  the  most  important  factor  in  the  success  of  the  inspection  staff  has  been 
that  the  task  is  not  regarded  as  primarily  inspection  but  rather  that  of  friendly  en- 
*At  the  time  of  writing  it  is  reported  that  the  new  syllabus  has  been  finished. 


196 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


couragement  and  sympathetic  direction.  The  inspectors  approach  the  schools  not 
as  critical  observers,  but  as  cooperating  friends  with  a  larger  experience  and  a  helpful 
detachment  from  the  difficulties  of  local  situations.  Thus  the  Natal  inspectorship 
retains  the  strong  element  of  inspection  of  the  British  system  and  adds  to  it  the  more 
important  element  of  sympathetic  assistance. 

2.  Advisory  Board—At  the  wise  suggestion  of  missionaries,  the  Department  of 
Education  has  organized  an  advisory  board,  to  assist  the  government  in  formulating 
policies  concerning  Native  education  and  in  the  general  direction  of  the  schools.  This 
board  consists  of  12  representatives  of  mission  societies  working  in  Natal,  the  chief 
Native  commissioner,  and  the  chief  inspector.  The  board  meets  twice  a  year  and 
careful  records  of  its  deliberations  are  kept.  The  Native  teachers  have  recently  sought 
representation  on  this  board,  and  the  suggestion  has  been  received  favorably.  The 
government  has  foimd  the  advisory  board  of  great  help  in  influencing  teachers  and  in 
moulding  public  opinion,  both  among  Europeans  and  Natives. 

3.  Government  Native  Schools — The  Department  of  Education  has  been  especially 
successful  in  arranging  for  the  effective  supervision  of  mission  schools.  Through 
the  advisory  board  representing  missionary  thought,  it  has  been  possible  to  assure 
missionary  societies  that  manj^  of  their  schools  could  be  more  effectively  conducted 
under  government  ownership.  The  mission  fear  of  over-control  by  the  government 
has  been  almost  entirely  overcome  through  the  complete  consideration  given  to  the 
recommendations  of  the  advisory  board.  The  result  of  this  arrangement  has  been 
that  mission  societies  have  given  over  to  the  government  the  complete  manage- 
ment of  50  of  their  schools.  The  movement  began  in  communities  where  inter- 
denominational rivalry  was  supporting  two  or  three  ineffective  denominational 
schools.  In  these  cases  the  denominations  generally  agree  to  resign  in  favor  of  one 
effective  government  school.  In  other  cases  mission  societies  with  limited  means  were 
glad  to  turn  over  some  of  their  more  difficult  schools  to  the  government.  To  retain 
the  help  and  influence  of  the  missionary,  it  was  arranged  that  each  government 
school  should  have  a  committee  with  the  missionary  as  chairman,  the  head-teacher 
as  secretary,  and  the  remaining  three  members  elected  by  the  parents  at  an  annual 
school  meeting.  This  committee  was  authorized  to  nominate  the  teacher,  arrange 
for  his  board  and  lodging,  and  generally  represent  the  government  in  the  management 
of  the  school.  Religious  instruction  is  given  by  the  head-teacher  according  to  the 
government  syllabus  already  accepted  by  the  advisory  board.  Often  the  building 
is  rented  from  the  missionary  and  the  teachers  are  paid  directly  by  the  government. 
The  happy  result  of  this  system  has  been  to  strengthen  the  position  of  the  mis- 
sionary in  that  he  is  relieved  of  the  financial  obligation  while  he  retains  most  of  his 
influence  and  acquires  also  the  backing  of  the  government.  Thus,  without  pressure 
from  the  government,  missions  are  seeking  to  turn  over  their  schools  in  greater  number 
than  it  is  possible  to  accept  them.  The  present  pohcy  of  the  government  is  to  have  the 
missions  keep  their  larger  and  more  successful  schools  and  resign  their  more  difficult 
institutions. 

4.  Teachers'  Aid — For  the  development  of  the  teachers  in  Native  schools  the^ 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


197 


government  has  encouraged  vacation  courses  for  teachers,  a  Native  teachers'  journal, 
and  the  formation  of  a  Native  teachers'  union.  The  annual  vacation  courses,  extend- 
ing over  a  fortnight,  are  made  possible  through  the  government  provision  of  free  rail- 
road fares  for  the  visiting  teachers,  and  fees  to  the  lecturers.  The  Native  Teachers' 
Journal  carries  articles  by  missionaries.  Natives,  and  officials,  reports  on  schools, 
suggestions  for  improving  school  work,  attempts  to  explain  school  difficulties,  speci- 
men examination  papers,  and  results  of  examinations.  The  Native  Teachers'  Union 
has  been  encouraged  by  the  Department  of  Education  through  arrangements  for  its 
meetings  during  vacation,  through  free  railroad  tickets  in  connection  with  winter 
schools,  and  through  general  support  of  the  union  in  its  undertakings. 

5.  Adaptations  of  Education — The  Natal  organization  of  Native  education  shows 
more  regard  for  the  special  needs  of  the  Natives  than  any  school  system  observed  in 
Africa.  The  curriculum  gives  great  emphasis  to  hygiene,  gardening,  and  Native 
crafts.  These  subjects  are  all  required  in  the  Native  schools.  Hygiene  is  taught 
through  the  medium  of  the  Zulu  language.  Every  school  must  have  a  garden.  The 
Native  people  are  gradually  coming  to  understand  that  agriculture  and  hand  training 
are  vital  to  the  effective  training  of  their  children.  Every  school  spends  20  per  cent 
of  its  school  time  on  manual  work.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Native  arts  have  been 
introduced  within  a  very  brief  period,  the  extent  and  character  of  the  work  are  notable. 
Many  of  the  school  children  are  already  paying  their  school  fees  and  buying  their 
books  from  the  proceeds  of  sales  of  articles  manufactured  in  and  out  of  school.  The 
manual  work  includes  gardening,  sewing,  grass-work,  clay-work,  cane-work,  car- 
pentry, cookery,  laundering,  dressmaking. 

The  Tkansvaal 

All  reports  indicated  that  Native  education  is  not  popular  in  the  Transvaal  and 
the  Department  of  Education  has  made  serious  efforts  to  provide  educational  facilities 
for  the  Natives  and  to  relate  education  to  their  needs.  These  efforts  have  been 
seriously  hampered,  not  only  by  the  indifference,  but  by  the  antagonism  of  some 
influence  in  the  Provincial  Council.  Of  the  very  small  appropriation  made  for  non- 
European  schools,  a  considerable  proportion  is  spent  on  the  colored  as  distinct  from 
the  Native  schools.  The  provincial  debates  on  the  appropriation  for  Native  educa- 
tion are  usually  enlivened  by  some  member  who  asserts  "that  no  money  should  be 
spent  on  Native  education  until  every  white  child  is  receiving  satisfactory  education." 
The  labor  party  opposes  industrial  education  of  the  Native  on  the  ground  that  it  will 
develop  competition  of  black  mechanics  with  white  mechanics.  Recently  the  adminis- 
trator of  the  Transvaal,  a  man  who  has  shown  his  dissatisfaction  with  the  existing 
system, called  together  a  meeting  of  missionaries  and  officials  out  of  which  it  is  expected 
that  improvements  will  result.  Up  to  1920  the  supervision  of  Native  education  was 
in  charge  of  inspectors  who  were  concerned  in  schools  for  both  Europeans  and  Natives. 
The  result  was  unsatisfactory,  not  only  because  the  inspectors  had  too  many  schools, 
but  also  because  the  claims  of  the  European  group  were  more  insistent  than  those  of 
the  Native  group.   Supervision  is  at  present  assigned  to  three  inspectors,  who  devote 


198 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


all  of  their  time  to  the  Native  schools.  The  school  syllabus  drawn  up  by  the  Director 
of  Education  is,  in  the  main,  very  good;  but  lack  of  money  and  teachers  has  seriously 
hampered  its  effective  operation.  The  syllabus  of  instruction  in  woodworking  is  in 
serious  need  of  revision  so  that  the  work  may  be  of  more  direct  value  to  the  Natives. 
One  principal  of  a  training  institute,  complaining  of  the  woodworking,  said:  "Formerly 
the  government  department  permitted  us  to  make  black-boards.  Now  we  can  make 
only  the  black-board  pegs."  This  remark  is  significant  of  the  artificial  quality  of 
the  manual  training  given  in  the  Transvaal  schools. 

The  Transvaal  Department  of  Education  realizes  the  weaknesses  of  the  system. 
Dr.  J.  E.  Adamson  is  especially  keen  on  the  reorganization  of  the  school  system  so  that 
the  activities  may  be  more  closely  related  to  the  life  of  the  people.  Through  his 
influence  a  very  important  contribution  to  sound  educational  policies  has  been  made 
in  the  formulation  of  an  examination  to  replace  the  formal  college  matriculation  tests 
in  British  countries.  The  matriculation  examination  of  the  University  of  South 
Africa  was  of  the  inelastic  type  formulated  by  college  professors  on  the  lines  of  the 
London  matriculation,  and  imposed  on  South  African  students.  The  subjects  were 
largely  of  a  literary  nature  and  no  opportunity  was  given  for  the  expression  of  indi- 
vidual ideas  in  favor  of  such  subjects  as  manual  training,  commercial  courses,  or  other 
modern  subjects.  Now  there  is  a  joint  matriculation  board  for  the  universities  of 
South  Africa  composed  of  representatives  of  the  colleges,  the  provinces,  superin- 
tendents of  education,  and  representatives  of  the  high  school  teachers.  This  board 
has  formulated  an  examination  allowing  greater  freedom  in  options  and  including 
such  subjects  as  agriculture,  science,  commercial  subjects,  practical  mathematics, 
and  music.  Dr.  Adamson  believes  that  the  Education  Department  and  the  high 
school  teachers  should  determine  what  the  curriculum  of  the  high  school  should  be. 
He  has  accordingly  instituted  a  "High  School  Leaving  Certificate,"  which  it  is  hoped 
the  imiversity  authorities  will  agree  to  accept  in  lieu  of  the  matriculation  for  college 
entrance. 

Orange  Free  State 
The  provincial  government  of  the  Orange  Free  State  seems  to  give  practically  no 
consideration  to  the  education  of  the  Natives.  The  only  expenditure  for  Native 
education  is  the  £4,000  grant  to  mission  schools  the  Free  State  took  over  from  the 
Imperial  Government  when  responsible  government  was  given  after  the  Boer  War. 
There  is  no  syllabus,  no  supervision,  no  inspection.  At  the  end  of  the  financial  year  a 
questionnaire  is  sent  out  to  the  missionaries  asking  them  how  many  pupils  they  have 
in  their  schools.  This  number  is  divided  into  £4,000,  and  the  per  capita  grant  thus 
obtained.  Each  institution  then  receives  a  check  for  grant  at  this  rate.  There  is  a 
capital  sum  of  £39,000  set  aside  by  the  Imperial  Government  for  Native  education  in 
the  Free  State.  The  Union  Government,  in  whose  control  the  money  lies,  have 
decided  that  this  shall  be  spent  on  higher  education,  leaving  the  support  of  elementary 
education  for  the  Provincial  Government.  Unfortunately  it  is  impossible  to  make 
any  provision  for  higher  education  until  elementary  education  is  much  more  de- 
veloped; so  the  government  authorities  have  accepted  the  recommendation  of  a 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


199 


small  subcommittee  that  the  interest  on  the  money  shall  be  used  in  paying  bursaries 
of  £15  a  year  for  Native  students  from  the  Free  State  who  go  to  some  other  province 
for  their  education.  A  small  training  college  for  Native  teachers  is  conducted  by  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church  at  Viljoen's  Drift.  The  institution  can  supply  but  a  negli- 
gible proportion  of  the  teachers  required  in  the  Orange  Free  State.  There  are  indi- 
cations that  public  opinion,  largely  determined  by  the  church,  is  dissatisfied  with 
the  condition  of  affairs.  The  provincial  legislature,  controlled  by  the  Dutch  people 
and  the  Nationalist  Party,  has  passed  a  resolution  admitting  the  inadequacy  of  the 
present  provision  made,  and  calling  upon  the  Union  Government  to  provide  the  funds 
for  improved  conditions. 

Basutoland 

While  Basutoland  is  not  politically  within  the  Union  of  South  Africa,  there  are 
many  educational  relationships.  The  education  work  is  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Director  of  Education  and  an  inspector.  There  is  a  government  industrial  school  at 
Maseru,  the  capital,  where  Native  youths  are  instructed  in  carpentry,  wagon- 
making,  blacksmithing,  building,  and  stone-cutting.  All  of  the  other  schools,  includ- 
ing six  institutions  and  390  elementary  schools  with  a  total  enrollment  of  30,935 
pupils,  are  owned  and  conducted  by  missionaries.  The  Paris  Evangelical  Society  is 
the  chief  mission  body  operating  in  Basutoland.  Considerable  educational  work  has 
been  done,  but  the  deadening  effect  of  the  Cape  examination  system  is  felt,  and  an 
excellent  opportunity  to  relate  education  to  the  needs  of  the  people  has  been  lost. 

Rhodesia 

The  geographical  proximity  of  Southern  Rhodesia  to  the  Union  of  South  Africa 
makes  it  desirable  to  include  at  this  point  a  few  of  the  significant  facts  concerning 
education  in  Southern  Rhodesia.  Missionaries  have  been  at  work  in  Southern  Rho- 
desia for  the  past  fifty  years.  When,  in  1890,  the  Charter  Company  took  over  the 
government  of  the  country,  missionary  and  educational  work  advanced  by  leaps  and 
bounds.  The  school  work  was  of  the  usual  type  found  among  the  early  mission- 
aries. The  teacher  was  usually  an  evangelist,  the  daily  session  was  two  or  three 
hours  a  day,  the  methods  were  exceedingly  simple,  and  the  subjects  restricted  to 
reading,  writing,  and  a  little  arithmetic,  with  some  gardening  and  sewing.  In  1905 
the  present  system  of  grants-in-aid  was  introduced,  and  a  syllabus  for  optional  use 
was  recommended.  At  present  there  are  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  Native  schools 
in  receipt  of  government  aid.  Most  of  these  are  third-class  schools  receiving  an  annual 
grant  of  five  shillings  per  pupil.  For  the  most  part  these  schools  are  ineffective  and 
almost  entirely  lacking  in  supervision.  A  little  above  these  are  the  second-class  schools 
which  give  instruction  of  a  higher  nature  and  include  industrial  training.  To  these  a 
grant  of  £l  per  pupil  is  made,  and  in  addition  half  the  salary  of  an  industrial  teacher 
is  offered  under  certain  conditions.  In  the  first-class  schools,  the  instruction  is  higher, 
including  Standards  IV  or  V.  No  section  of  the  community  in  Rhodesia  is  satisfied 
with  the  present  system  and  a  reform  scheme  of  grants  and  a  better  syllabus  are  now 
under  consideration. 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


The  most  helpful  influence  is  the  interesting  educational  work  undertaken  by 
Mr.  H.  S.  Keigwin,  the  Director  of  Native  Development.  Mr.  Keigwin's  plan  is 
based  upon  the  principle  of  adaptation  to  Native  needs.  He  believes  in  the  encour- 
agement of  Native  industries.  He  realizes  that  educational  activities  should  provide  , 
for  the  hygienic,  economic,  and  character  development  of  the  Native  youth.  The 
practical  beginning  he  has  made  will  be  described  in  connection  with  the  school  which 
he  recently  organized.  With  larger  financial  aid,  the  encouragement  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  cooperation  of  the  missionaries,  Mr.  Keigwin's  system  of  education 
will  go  far  in  the  development  of  the  Native  population  of  Southern  Rhodesia.  As 
Northern  Rhodesia  is  now  politically  connected  with  Southern  Rhodesia  and  both  may, 
in  the  not  distant  future,  be  connected  with  the  Union  of  South  Africa,  there  is  every 
indication  that  Mr.  Keigwin's  educational  plan  will  be  generally  adopted  throughout 
Southern  and  Northern  Rhodesia.  In  Northern  Rhodesia  there  is  at  present  no  sys- 
tem of  government  grants-in-aid.  School  work  is  carried  on  by  missionaries.  The 
Barotse  people,  the  largest  of  the  Native  tribes,  are  maintaining  some  educational 
work  through  the  Barotse  National  Council. 

Union  of  South  Africa 

It  has  already  been  explained  that  the  educational  responsibility  of  the  Union 
Government  has  been  limited  by  the  Act  of  Union  to  higher  education.  This  applies 
to  both  Europeans  and  non-Europeans.  So  far  the  Union  Government  has  made 
practically  no  provision  for  the  higher  education  of  the  Natives,  the  only  exception 
being  the  South  African  Native  College,  recently  organized  at  Fort  Hare,  near  the 
famous  Lovedale  Missionary  Institute.  The  organization  and  work  of  Fort  Hare 
College  will  be  described  in  another  section. 

It  seems  clear  that  the  limitation  of  the  Union  Government  to  the  one  field  of 
higher  education  is  especially  unfortunate  for  the  cause  of  Native  education.  The 
varying  policies  of  the  provinces  as  they  have  been  described  in  the  preceding  para- 
graphs point  to  serious  losses  through  the  indifference  of  provincial  councils  and  con- 
tradiction of  educational  plans.  Surely  a  problem  of  such  large  and  vital  possibilities 
for  good  or  for  ill  in  the  development  of  South  Africa  should  receive  the  consideration 
of  the  largest  and  most  influential  unit  of  government  in  the  subcontinent.  Sound 
statesmanship  will  undoubtedly  require  the  Union  Government  sooner  or  later  to 
take  a  much  larger  share  in  the  formulation  of  educational  policies  for  the  develop- 
ment of  a  Native  people  constituting  eighty  per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  South 
Africa.  In  its  first  report  the  Native  Affairs  Commission  recommended  that  the  con- 
trol of  Native  education  be  taken  over  by  the  Union  Government. 

Typical  Institutions  in  Cape  Province 

The  institutions  described  in  the  following  paragraphs  have  been  selected  in  order 
to  show  the  various  types  of  activities  in  behalf  of  the  Natives.  They  are  grouped 
under  the  provinces  because  the  provincial  education  departments  have  exerted  con- 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


201 


siderable  influence  on  their  activities.  It  has  not  seemed  necessary  to  describe  all  the 
schools  of  various  types.  For  this  reason  a  number  of  important  institutions  have  been 
omitted  from  the  list  herewith  given.  Even  groups  of  schools  such  as  those  of  the  Paris 
Evangelical  Society  in  Basutoland  have  been  omitted. 

Cape  Province,  as  the  earliest  settled  section  of  South  Africa,  has  the  largest  num- 
ber of  important  institutions  for  Native  education.  Here  again  the  liberal  attitude 
of  the  provincial  government  is  shown  in  the  size,  variety,  and  number  of  Native 
schools.  They  show,  however,  the  limiting  influence  of  the  provincial  syllabus  of 
education  which  has  been  imposed  with  unfortunate  effectiveness  upon  the  school 
programs  of  practically  all  the  important  institutions  in  Cape  Province.  The  Tsolo 
Agricultural  School  organized  and  maintained  by  the  Transkeian  Native  Bhunga  is 
the  striking  exception  to  this  general  influence. 

Lovedale  Missionary  Institution 

Lovedale  is  probably  the  best  known  institution  for  Natives  in  Africa.  In  a 
number  of  respects  it  resembles  such  American  institutions  as  Hampton  and  Tuske- 
gee.  The  points  of  resemblance  are  the  training  of  teachers,  the  teaching  of  trades, 
the  emphasis  upon  a  religion  of  service,  the  attention  to  the  dormitory  and  boarding 
life  of  the  pupils,  the  influence  of  the  institution  on  Native  education  in  South  Africa, 
and  the  interest  of  Principal  Henderson  and  many  of  his  associates  in  an  education 
that  is  related  to  the  needs  of  the  Native  people.  While  there  are  these  points  of 
resemblance,  there  are  a  number  of  important  differences  that  rather  seriously  dis- 
appoint any  visitor  who  beheves  in  the  adaptation  of  education.  The  most  important 
of  these  differences  are  the  very  limited  instruction  in  gardening,  hygiene,  and  hand- 
work related  to  simple  needs,  and  the  shght  relationship  of  the  school  to  the  com- 
munity. Most  important  of  all  is  the  fact  that  the  graduates  go  out  without  an  ade- 
quate sense  of  their  responsibilities  to  the  communities  in  which  they  are  to  work. 
Though  the  school  has  much  land,  there  is  no  course  in  agriculture  except  for  a  few 
"farming  apprentices,"  as  they  are  called.  Instruction  in  gardening  is  confined  to  a 
few  hours  for  the  pupils  who  are  in  training  to  be  teachers.  Similarly,  physiology  and 
hygiene  are  limited  to  a  few  lectvu-es  given  by  Dr.  Neil  Macvicar  to  the  last  class  in 
teacher  training.  The  school  has  nothing  that  corresponds  to  farm  demonstration 
work,  traveling  schools,  or  neighborhood  visiting.  The  chief  reason  for  these  very 
serious  omissions  is  the  influence  of  the  provincial  curriculum  upon  the  teaching. 

The  institution  is  owned  and  maintained  by  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland 
with  considerable  grants-in-aid  from  the  provincial  government.  Founded  in  1841, 
its  period  of  great  growth  in  plant  and  influence  began  in  1865  with  the  second  prin- 
cipal, the  Rev.  James  Stewart,  M.D.,  D.D.  Dr.  Stewart  was  a  great  leader  of  edu- 
cation in  South  Africa  and  succeeded  in  making  Lovedale  and  Native  education  almost 
synonymous  terms.  He  believed  that  manual  education  should  form  a  part  of  the 
training  of  every  Native  boy,  and  to  this  day  all  students  of  Lovedale  have  to  do  a 
certain  amoimt  of  manual  work.  A  man  of  strong  personahty,  he  attracted  to  him  many 
able  teachers  and  missionaries  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  large  sums  of  money  from 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  He  was  a  great  upholder  of  Natives'  rights  and 
often  found  himself  in  conflict  with  officials  on  this  matter,  but  his  earnestness  of  pur- 
pose and  dauntless  courage  carried  him  through.  Dr.  Stewart's  long  and  heroic  ser- 
vice ended  about  ten  years  ago,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  James  Henderson,  who 
had  been  engaged  in  a  similar  institution  in  Nyasaland. 

The  teaching  staff  varies  from  55  to  60  persons,  about  one-third  of  whom  are 
natives  of  South  Africa.  There  are  four  full-time  and  four  part-time  high  school  teach- 
ers, ten  in  the  training  school,  twelve  in  the  practice  schools,  thirteen  in  the  industrial 
departments,  three  in  the  hospital,  and  about  ten  in  the  administration  department. 
They  are  all  men  and  women  of  good  training.  The  white  staff  are  from  England, 
Scotland,  and  South  Africa. 

The  total  attendance  is  about  900  pupils,  of  whom  about  200  are  day  pupils.  Of 
the  students  above  Standard  III  there  are  500  boys  and  275  girls.  The  number  of 
pupils  in  the  high  school  is  88;  in  the  training  school  375,  of  whom  175  are  young 
women;  in  the  intermediate  school,  including  Standards  IV,  V,  and  VI,  there  are  105 
boys  and  78  girls;  in  the  elementary  school  there  are  150  pupils.  In  the  industrial 
department  there  are  122  apprentices,  of  whom  43  are  young  women;  and  22  journey- 
men, of  whom  4  are  women. 

The  academic  activities  of  the  institution  have  been  indicated  in  the  statement 
of  attendance.  The  high  school  course  includes  three  forms  of  a  year  each.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  instruction  is  to  prepare  for  the  junior  certificate  examination  of  the 
University  of  South  Africa  or  the  junior  certificate  of  the  Cape  Education  Depart- 
ment. The  work  is  based  on  the  university  requirements,  the  subjects  being  English, 
Latin,  physical  science,  mathematics,  history,  and  Native  language.  Some  provision 
is  made  for  outdoor  manual  work.  The  teacher-training  school  covers  three  years, 
requiring  the  completion  of  the  sixth  standard  for  entrance.  The  first  year  is  largely 
a  repetition  of  the  academic  work  of  Standard  IV;  the  second  year  repeats  the  work 
of  Standard  V;  and  the  third  year  that  of  Standard  VI.*  The  course  fails  to  provide 
a  sufficient  amount  of  practice-teaching,  and  the  constant  repetition  of  lower-standard 
subjects  not  only  excludes  the  possibility  of  advanced  study,  but  also  develops  an 
indifference  on  the  part  of  the  students  that  is  very  noticeable.  In  this  respect  the 
attitude  of  the  training  school  pupils  was  in  striking  contrast  with  the  more  active 
and  alert  attitude  of  the  high  school  pupils.  A  small  business  class  is  conducted 
as  a  part  of  the  high  school.  Its  activities  are  related  to  the  work  in  the  book-store 
and  the  accounting  department.  The  academic  courses  were  all  based  rather  slav- 
ishly on  the  Cape  Province  syllabus.  This  is  the  unfortunate  price  the  institution 
has  to  pay  for  the  comparatively  large  appropriation  received  from  the  government. 

The  industrial  department  provides  instruction  in  carpentry,  wagon-making, 
farriery,  boot-making,  and  printing  for  the  boys,  and  needlework  for  the  girls.  In  all 
of  the  trades  the  boys  are  bound  out  as  apprentices  for  five  years,  after  having  had  a 
year  in  the  woodworking  shop  and  completed  Standard  IV.  The  work  in  the  shop  is  of 
a  high  grade  and  the  alleged  unwillingness  of  the  Natives  to  work  with  their  hands 
was  not  in  evidence.   The  opposition  of  white  tradesmen  is  avoided  by  not  selling  in 

*Since  this  was  written  it  is  reported  that  a  new  and  improved  syllabus  has  been  prepared  and  is 
gradually  coming  into  operation. 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


203 


the  open  market.  It  is  unfortunate  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  Lovedale  students 
cannot  have  the  benefit  of  this  excellent  department.  At  present  the  manual  training 
of  the  young  men  in  the  academic  departments  is  limited  to  a  rather  formal  wood- 
working for  certain  classes  in  the  high  school,  the  normal  school,  and  Standard  VI.  Each 
pupil  receives  three  hours'  instruction  a  week,  of  which  one  and  one-half  hours  is  prac- 
tical bench-work,  one  hour  drawing,  and  one-half  hour  theory  and  simple  geometry. 
The  girls  receive  considerable  training  in  connection  with  their  dormitory  life.  This 
instruction  includes  sewing,  laundering,  cooking,  general  housework,  and  the  care  of 
rooms.  The  institution  has  also  an  engineering  department  for  the  production  of 
electric  light;  a  fruit  department  with  many  trees;  and  a  farm  of  considerable  size. 
Unfortunately,  only  a  negligible  number  of  the  pupils  have  taken  advantage  of  the 
possibilities  of  these  three  departments. 

Undoubtedly  the  most  effective  department  of  Lovedale  is  the  Victoria  Hospital 
and  the  health  work  under  Dr.  Neil  Macvicar.  In  1921  the  institution  admitted  721 
in-patients  and  4,927  out-patients,  exclusive  of  the  Lovedale  students.  The  hospital 
is  notable  for  its  influence  on  the  immediate  community  and  the  general  health  propa- 
ganda that  affects  the  Native  population  for  extensive  areas  in  South  Africa.  The 
general  propaganda  includes  the  publication  of  important  health  pamphlets  in  a 
number  of  Native  languages.  In  addition  to  his  almost  overwhelming  responsibilities, 
Dr.  Macvicar  conducts  a  health  class  of  90  Lovedale  students.  It  is  a  notable  fact 
that  this  is  the  only  class  instruction  in  hygiene  in  Lovedale  Institution. 

The  boarding  and  sleeping  facilities  for  the  students  are  supervised  with  consider- 
able care  by  the  officers  of  Lovedale.  The  girls'  department,  located  apart  from  the 
general  institution,  is  organized  for  the  training  of  the  young  women  in  home  life.  The 
dining-rooms  for  both  young  men  and  young  women  are  managed  with  definite  regard 
for  their  educational  value.  The  presence  of  teachers  at  tables  in  the  same  room 
has  a  decided  influence  for  the  establishment  of  order  and  the  cultivation  of  good  man- 
ners. Care  is  also  exercised  with  regard  to  the  sleeping  facilities.  Unfortunately,  the 
institution  has  not  been  able  to  provide  sleeping  arrangements  that  are  in  accordance 
with  its  own  ideals.  With  increased  funds  the  school  plans  to  build  dormitories  and 
arrange  rooms  in  accordance  with  sound  principles  of  sanitation.  The  institution  also 
encourages  social  gatherings,  athletic  activities,  and  games  for  the  all-round  develop- 
ment of  the  pupils.  Like  most  old  institutions,  Lovedale  has  grown  without  a  plan 
for  landscape  or  for  buildings.  Efforts  are  now  being  made  to  bring  order  out  of  the 
haphazard  location  of  the  buildings.  At  one  end  of  the  grounds  the  buildings  for  the 
education  of  girls  are  located.  Here  there  is  one  substantial  building  and  several  smaller 
structures.  The  old  hollow-square  building  of  very  small  dimensions  was  intended  to 
house  not  more  than  about  fifty  girls.  At  present  this  building  is  almost  lost  among  the 
new  ones  that  have  since  been  erected.  In  this  part  of  the  grounds  the  girls  live  very 
much  to  themselves,  going  to  other  sections  only  for  special  classes  and  for  general 
exercises.  At  such  times  they  go  in  platoons  or  companies  under  their  officers.  The 
central  building  of  the  institution  is  a  large  stone  structure  in  which  practically  all 
the  academic  classes  are  taught.  It  includes  also  a  small  laboratory  and  the  large  room 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


in  which  the  chapel  and  general  assemblies  are  held.  Beyond  this  building  is  the  large 
brick  structure  in  which  the  manual  training  classes  are  taught.  This  building  also 
contains  some  of  the  sleeping  rooms  for  the  boys.  There  are  several  smaller  buildings 
used  as  dormitories  and  dining-room  and  a  store.  The  trades  are  taught  in  small  one- 
story  buildings.  These  are  scattered  about  in  various  directions,  not  far  from  the  cen- 
tral buildings  aheady  described.  The  teachers'  cottages  are  located  in  various  parts 
of  the  grounds.  The  hospital  is  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away  from  the  main  build- 
ings of  the  school.   This  is  a  long  two-story  brick  building  with  fair  equipment. 

It  is  important  to  note  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  current  expenses  of 
Lovedale  Institution  are  paid  from  government  appropriations  and  fees  received  from 
the  students.  According  to  the  1919  report  for  Lovedale,  the  fees  paid  by  the  900 
students  amounted  to  £8,790.  The  Cape  Department  of  Education  has  recently 
taken  the  responsibility  for  the  salaries  of  practically  all  the  teachers  in  the  institu- 
tion. This  provides  for  full  governmental  recognition  as  to  salaries  and  pensions  for 
teachers. 

The  riot  of  Lovedale  students  in  1920  has  been  so  widely  misinterpreted  and  its 
significance  so  greatly  exaggerated  as  to  warrant  a  comment  by  the  Education  Com- 
mission. A  careful  study  of  the  incident  and  also  of  present  conditions  in  Lovedale 
convinces  the  Commission  that  the  following  statement  made  by  a  deputation  from 
Scotland  is  entirely  correct: 

A  riot  at  Lovedale  in  the  early  part  of  the  year,  in  which  many  of  the  boys  took  part,  and  in  which 
much  damage  was  done  to  the  mission  property,  occasioned  much  concern  to  the  school  authorities  and  to 
the  committee  at  home,  a  section  of  the  South  African  press  representing  it  as  a  practical  demonstration 
of  the  folly  of  educating  the  Native  community.  The  deputies  were  glad  to  find,  serious  as  the  outbreak 
was,  it  has  been  greatly  exaggerated  by  the  press.  At  the  time  of  their  visit  most  of  the  boys  had  been  re- 
admitted to  the  institution  on  a  promise  of  good  behavior  and  on  payment  of  a  sum  towards  the  damage 
done,  and  they  were  satisfied  that  confidence  had  been  restored,  and  that  a  good  spirit  prevailed  amongst 
the  boys. 

The  varied  types  of  occupations  into  which  Lovedale  students  have  been  entering 
for  many  years  is  indicated  by  a  study  of  Lovedale  ex-students  made  some  time  ago. 
The  6,640  ex-students  from  whom  records  had  been  received  were  distributed  approxi- 
mately as  follows: 


Missionaries  or  ministers   57 

Evangelists  or  catechists   55 

Teachers— male,  458;  female,  310   768 

Farming  their  own  land   385 

Tradesmen,  carpenters,  printers,  etc   352 

Interpreters,  magistrates'  clerks,  or  in  postal  and  telegraph  work   112 

In  railway  and  police  work   86 

Law  agents  and  clerks   15 

Engaged  in  transport,  general  labor,  or  at  the  diamond  and  gold  fields,  about  .  .  1,000 

In  domestic  service,  or  married  women,  or  girls  employed  at  their  homes,  about  .  500 


These  statistics  show  clearly  the  important  contributions  made  by  Lovedale 
students  in  all  the  essential  phases  of  life  in  South  Africa. 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


S05 


South  African  Native  College 

The  South  African  Native  College  at  Fort  Hare  is  the  result  of  the  cooperation 
of  the  Union  Government,  the  Native  Councils  of  the  Transkeian  Territories  and  Basu- 
toland,  and  the  important  mission  societies.  In  1907  the  Transkeian  General  Council 
voted  the  sum  of  £10,000  towards  the  project.  Lovedale  Institution,  representing 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  offered  a  site  a  mile  and  a  quarter  from  Lovedale  as  part 
of  a  contribution  of  £5,000.  Contributions  to  revenue  were  made  from  Basutoland 
and  the  Union  Government.  The  college  was  opened  in  1916  with  an  enrollment  of 
20  students.  In  1918  the  Union  Government  granted  the  sum  of  £10,800  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  commodious  building  in  which  classes  are  held.  The  cooperation  of  the  mis- 
sion societies  was  obtained  by  making  arrangements  for  denominational  hostels,  and 
there  are  now  wardens  in  charge  of  those  of  the  Presbyterians,  Anglicans,  and  Wesley- 
ans.  According  to  the  constitution,  the  governing  council  of  the  college  is  to  be  com- 
posed of  (a)  a  representative  of  donors  who  have  contributed  sums  of  £5  and  upwards; 
(b)  two  representatives  of  the  University  of  South  Africa;  (c)  representatives  of  co- 
operating churches,  missionary  societies,  or  other  bodies.  The  "other  bodies"  for 
which  representatives  may  be  appointed  include  "representatives  of  secondary  schools 
whose  courses  have  been  recognized  for  entrance  to  the  college;  representatives  of 
graduates;  government  representatives  appointed  by  the  Governor-General  or  the 
administration  of  any  state,  colony,  or  protectorate." 

The  teaching  staff  consists  of  the  principal,  seven  professors,  three  wardens  who 
give  part  time  to  teaching,  a  traveling  demonstrator  in  agriculture,  and  a  matron 
for  the  college  hostel.  The  principal,  the  professors,  and  the  wardens  are  men  and 
women  of  first-class  university  training.  The  enrollment  for  1921  was  66,  all  students 
boarding  at  the  institution.  About  half  of  the  entering  students  are  from  Lovedale 
and  Healdtown,  and  ten  per  cent  are  women.  The  curriculum  of  the  college  is  based 
upon  the  requirements  of  the  University  of  South  Africa.  Less  than  ten  per  cent  of  the 
students  are  at  present  engaged  in  real  college  work.  The  others  are  preparing  for 
matriculation  and  other  examinations.  The  subjects  of  the  curriculum  are  English, 
logic,  psychology,  ethics,  economics,  Latin,  Dutch,  vernacular  languages,  mathematics, 
physics,  chemistry,  history,  business  subjects,  and  agriculture.  At  present  the  in- 
struction is  formal  and  rather  literary.  The  principal  and  his  associates  are  inclined 
to  give  increasing  recognition  to  science,  agriculture,  domestic  economy,  and  com- 
munity activities  required  for  the  leaders  and  teachers  of  a  primitive  people.  The 
plans  of  the  institution  contemplate  the  development  of  a  department  of  agriculture, 
of  medicine,  of  domestic  economy  and  art,  and  denominational  seminaries  for  the 
preparation  of  religious  leaders. 

Healdtown  Normal  School 

This  institution  is  noted  throughout  Cape  Province  for  its  effective  work  in  the 
training  of  teachers.  The  curriculum  follows  very  closely  the  syllabus  provided  by  the 
Cape  Department  of  Education,  and  has,  therefore,  all  the  defects  and  virtues  of 
that  syllabus.   With  the  change  of  emphasis  recommended  by  the  Cape  Commission 


206 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


of  1919  it  is  probable  that  the  activities  of  the  institution  will  be  better  related  to  the 
needs  of  the  Natives.  The  institution  is  owned  and  managed  by  the  Wesleyan  Church 
and  is  one  of  the  oldest  educational  institutions  for  Natives  in  South  Africa.  It  is 
located  about  eight  miles  from  Lovedale  in  the  midst  of  a  dense  population  of 
Natives  who  were  brought  to  this  section  after  one  of  the  Native  wars. 

The  teaching  staff  is  well  prepared.  The  upper  standards  are  taught  by  white 
men  thoroughly  trained  in  school  methods  of  the  English  type.  The  lower  standards 
are  taught  by  Native  teachers  who  are  graduates  of  the  institution.  The  teaching  is 
conducted  with  military  precision.  The  course  of  instruction  covers  six  standards 
and  three  years  of  teacher  training.  The  plant  is  substantial  in  construction  and  at- 
tractive in  appearance.  Cleanliness  and  order  are  evidently  fundamental  require- 
ments of  the  institution.  The  plant  is  divided  into  two  parts,  the  building  for  girls 
being  located  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away.  Here  the  girls  live  and  have  some  in- 
struction in  sewing.  The  central  institution  consists  of  a  church  building,  two  or  three 
buildings  foracademic  instruction, and  another  as  the  residence  of  ofEcersand  teachers, 
with  a  dining-room  for  the  boys.  There  is  a  building  for  teaching  woodworking,  and 
dormitories  for  the  pupils. 

Kimherley  Anglican  School  for  non-Europeans 

The  merit  of  the  Kimberley  Anglican  School  is  its  success  in  adapting  education  to 
the  needs  of  a  diverse  non-European  group  living  under  urban  conditions.  The 
mixture  of  races  is  extraordinary,  there  being  Natives,  St.  Helenas,  Malays,  Chinese, 
Mauritians,  and  half-castes  in  the  school.  Owing  to  the  large  numbers  of  Native  chil- 
dren in  the  lower  standards,  a  separate  primary  school  has  been  arranged  for  them. 
A  degree  of  adaptation  has  been  achieved  in  spite  of  the  demands  of  the  Cape  Province 
syllabus.  The  work  was  surprisingly  good  and  showed  the  thoroughness  of  English 
teaching  at  its  best.  There  were,  too,  some  points  of  excellence  not  found  in  other 
schools.  For  example,  the  genuine  interest  in  physiology  and  hygiene;  the  cheerful 
appearance  of  the  walls  with  diagrams,  maps,  and  colored  pictures  drawn  by  the  pu- 
pils; the  complete  doll's  house  in  the  infants'  room,  planned  and  made  by  the  children; 
the  brightness  of  the  pupils'  replies;  the  prominent  place  given  to  singing;  and  the  gen- 
eral happiness  of  the  school.  Even  though  the  character  of  the  soil  is  unfavorable  to 
gardening,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  school  will  find  some  way  to  provide  instruction 
in  this  important  activity. 

Tiger  Kloof  Native  Institution 

Tiger  Kloof  Native  Institution  is  unique  among  South  African  mission  stations 
for  its  unusual  plant.  The  school  program  includes  the  preparation  of  young  men 
and  young  women  as  teachers,  instruction  of  religious  workers,  and  the  training  of 
tradesmen.  The  lack  of  fertile  soil  makes  the  region  unsuitable  for  agricultural 
education  or  activities.  The  entire  absence  of  Native  population  in  the  large  area 
immediately  about  the  institution  seriously  limits  the  possibilities  of  instructing 
the  pupils  in  community  activities.    The  excellent  preparation  of  the  staflF  and  the 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


207 


well-knowTi  interest  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  in  Native  peoples  guarantees 
the  development  of  a  spirit  of  service  among  the  pupils. 

The  institution  was  founded  in  1904  by  the  London  Missionary  Society  and  is 
located  in  the  northwest  section  of  Cape  Province,  almost  at  the  boundary  of  Bech- 
uanaland  Protectorate.  The  large  and  substantial  stone  buildings  were  made  possible 
by  a  generous  gift  from  the  Arthington  Fund.  In  view  of  the  terms  of  the  gift 
requiring  the  immediate  expenditure  of  the  funds,  it  was  deemed  wise  to  construct 
the  buildings  in  a  rather  elaborate  and  permanent  manner  so  as  to  decrease  the  neces- 
sity of  future  repairs  and  improvements.  The  buildings  are  of  beautiful  blue  stone. 
The  work  was  done  partly  by  apprentices  and  partly  by  paid  labor.  The  main  build- 
ings are  the  girls'  dormitory,  European  women-teachers'  quarters,  dining-room, 
boys'  dormitories,  the  boys'  school  building,  carpenter  shop,  tailor  shop,  postoffice, 
several  staff  houses,  and  the  stables.  The  farm  is  2,000  acres  in  extent,  with  the  soil 
less  than  six  inches  thick,  spread  over  a  hard  rock  base.  Fortunately  there  is  a  small 
creek  basin  some  distance  away  from  the  school  where  a  limited  amount  of  gardening 
may  be  done. 

The  institution  consists  of  a  school  for  boys  and  a  school  for  girls.  The  course  of 
study  is  based  upon  the  Cape  Province  syllabus  and  shows  the  usual  limitations  im- 
posed by  the  requirements  of  the  government  system.  The  curriculum  includes  the 
upper  standards  and  a  course  for  the  training  of  teachers.  The  industrial  depart- 
ments are  masonry,  carpentry,  and  tailoring.  The  teaching  is  effective,  though  more 
emphasis  might  well  be  given  to  the  simple  activities  required  in  the  home  commu- 
nities of  the  pupils.  The  girls  receive  some  instruction  in  sewing  and  the  requirements 
of  home  life.  The  staflf  find  it  difficult  to  relate  the  rather  large  equipment  of  the  Euro- 
pean plant  to  the  simple  conditions  of  Native  life  in  Africa. 

The  staff  consists  of  eleven  Europeans  and  six  Natives.  The  European  men  are  the 
principal,  the  theological  tutor,  the  headmaster  and  his  assistant,  three  teachers  of 
industries,  and  the  boarding  master.  The  European  women  comprise  the  principal  of 
the  girls'  school,  an  assistant,  and  a  housekeeper.  The  Native  workers  include  three 
men  teachers,  two  women  teachers,  and  a  clerk. 

St.  Cuthberfs  Mission 

The  St.  Cuthbert's  School  is  an  interesting  and  effective  educational  institution 
located  in  the  open  country  of  the  Transkeian  Native  Territory.  It  was  organized 
and  is  maintained  by  the  Anglican  Order  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  with  headquar- 
ters at  Oxford,  England.  The  staff  is  composed  of  Fathers,  Brothers,  and  Sisters,  all 
representative  of  the  best  culture  of  Great  Britain.  Some  members  of  the  staff  have 
been  at  this  station  for  almost  thirty  years,  rendering  a  service  that  is  of  great  value 
for  the  educational  and  religious  development  of  the  Native  people.  The  insti- 
tution is  divided  into  three  parts.  The  main  work,  under  the  direction  of  Fathers 
and  Brothers,  is  for  the  Natives.  The  classes  include  all  standards,  with  a  department 
of  teacher-training.  The  curriculum  is  limited  by  the  syllabus  of  the  Cape  Province 
'Department,  but  the  spirit  of  the  teaching  is  enriched  by  the  culture  and  devotion  of 


208 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


the  Fathers  and  their  associates.  A  few  of  the  boys  are  taught  woodworking  on  the 
apprentice  basis.  A  considerable  number  of  the  girls  receive  thorough  training  in  card- 
ing wool,  in  weaving,  and  in  sewing.  This  work  is  probably  the  most  advanced  ob- 
served in  Africa.  The  girls  specialize  in  this  department,  remaining  in  the  institute 
for  several  years  and  receiving  remuneration  in  proportion  to  their  ability.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  course  is  to  train  the  girls  to  organize  the  home  industries.  Another  de- 
partment of  the  work  is  a  girls'  home  and  school,  under  the  charge  of  a  Mother  Supe- 
rior, assisted  by  Sisters  of  the  Order.  The  girls  receive  instruction  in  sewing,  cooking, 
and  activities  of  the  home  under  the  direction  of  the  Sisters.  They  also  engage  in  the 
care  of  the  hospital.  They  join  the  boys'  classes  for  some  academic  subjects.  The 
third  division  of  the  institution  is  a  school  for  colored  boys  and  girls.  This  is  conducted 
by  one  of  the  Sisters,  aided  by  a  young  colored  woman.  This  school  provides  instruc- 
tion in  the  lower  standards.  Some  effort  is  made  to  include  the  activities  that  are  re- 
lated to  the  home  needs  of  the  pupils.  The  separation  of  the  colored  pupils  of  this  de- 
partment from  the  Native  youth  in  the  main  school  is  rather  noticeable. 

The  central  and  best  building  of  the  plant  is  the  simple,  substantial,  and  dignified 
church.  All  the  other  buildings  are  temporary  in  appearance.  The  plant  is  in  poor 
repair.  The  instruction  in  woodworking  does  not  seem  to  be  sufficiently  related  to  the 
repair  work  of  the  institution. 

Tsolo  Agricultural  School 

This  is  the  only  institution  in  South  Africa  for  the  agricultural  instruction  of  the 
Natives  and  probably  the  only  school  in  all  Africa  devoted  solely  to  the  agricultural 
education  of  the  black  people.  It  was  reorganized  in  1916  and  is  supported  by  appro- 
priations recommended  by  the  Native  Bhunga,  a  council  of  the  Transkeian  Territory. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  only  purely  agricultural  school  in  Africa  was  estab- 
lished by  a  Native  council  and  is  supported  by  appropriations  originating  entirely 
in  Native  taxes.  The  teachers  are  four  white  men  well  trained  in  the  various  phases 
of  farm  activities.  There  are  two  classes  of  twenty-five  boys  each.  The  entrance 
standards  require  about  six  years  of  education.  One  class  works  in  the  morning  and 
goes  to  school  in  the  afternoon,  the  other  class  reversing  the  time.  The  arrangement 
of  study  and  work  is  very  good.  The  boys  sleep  in  round  houses  made  of  wattle  and 
daub,  similar  to  their  homes  in  the  "kraal."  They  eat  in  a  common  dining-room. 
The  discipline  and  order  seem  to  be  very  good.  The  plan  and  purpose  of  the  institu- 
tion are  among  the  most  significant  of  all  that  the  Commission  saw  in  Africa. 

Typical  Institutions  in  Natal 

The  Province  of  Natal  is  fortunate  in  its  number  of  educational  institutions  whose 
activities  are  designed  to  prepare  teachers  and  leaders  for  the  hygienic,  economic, 
and  character  development  of  the  Native  people.  These  institutions  reflect  the  pro- 
gressive educational  policies  of  the  Natal  Department  of  Education,  already  described. 
While  the  institutions  differ  strikingly  from  each  other,  they  are  almost  without  ex- 
ception notable  for  effectiveness  and  adaptation  to  the  needs  of  the  Natives. 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


209 


St.  Hilda's  High  School  for  Native  Girls 

St.  Hilda's  Higli  School  for  Native  Girls  at  Ladysmith  is  an  effective  school  of  the 
English  Church  in  the  open  country  of  Natal.  Its  curriculum  combines  book  and  hand 
education  so  interestingly  as  to  attract  pupils  from  every  one  of  the  four  provinces  in 
the  Union.  The  institution  was  organized  about  thirty  years  ago  by  the  present  prin- 
cipal. Miss  Cooke,  and  reflects  the  interesting  personality  of  its  founder.  The  staflF 
includes  four  European  teachers,  including  one  of  the  women  land-workers, famous  for 
their  work  in  England  during  the  war.  This  teacher  is  leading  the  girls  into  agricul- 
tural activities.  There  are  93  boarders  and  approximately  150  day  pupils.  Only 
about  50  of  the  pupils  are  in  classes  above  Standard  IV.  The  classroom  subjects  are 
well  taught.  Each  pupil  spends  from  eleven  to  twenty-five  hours  a  week  in  industrial 
subjects,  such  as  dressmaking,  cooking,  laundering,  household  management,  weaving 
and  spinning,  and  gardening.  Every  department  does  excellent  work.  The  rugs, 
mats,  and  robes  of  mohair  and  wool  are  especially  good.  They  are  not  only  woven  by 
the  girls,  but  dyed  in  beautiful  colors  with  home-made  dyes.  Recently  a  Native 
rode  up  to  the  institution  with  a  bag  of  wool  clipped  from  his  own  sheep  and  returned 
in  a  few  weeks  to  carry  away  a  splendid  blanket,  woven  by  these  Native  girls.  Miss 
Cooke's  idea  in  instituting  weaving  was  to  make  it  a  home  craft.  In  addition  to  this 
excellent  instruction  there  is  provision  for  recreation  and  play.  Considerable  thought 
is  also  given  to  the  dining-room  and  sleeping  facilities.  On  the  basis  of  comparison 
with  other  girls'  schools,  it  appears  that  the  standards  in  the  dormitory  and  in  the  din- 
ing-room could  be  raised  so  that  they  might  equal  the  high  standards  maintained  in 
the  classroom  and  in  play  and  in  religious  activities. 

The  school  plant  consists  of  an  old  mission  house  with  dormitories  attached;  a 
domestic  science  building  w^ell  adapted  to  its  use;  and  a  block  of  new,  well-con- 
structed classrooms.  Another  building  is  under  construction.  The  most  striking  feature 
of  the  plant  is  the  chapel,  which  is  a  round  structure  of  a  beautiful  blue-gray  stone 
with  thatched  roof  and  heavy  massive  doors.  The  altar  and  seats  are  in  keeping  with 
the  old-fashioned  building.  The  whole  arrangement  is  beautifully  and  impressively 
religious.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  building  and  equipment  were  made  en- 
tirely by  the  Natives. 

Mariannhill  Institute 

Mariannhill  is  one  of  the  most  important  schools  in  South  Africa.  It  is  well  known 
for  its  excellent  courses  in  teacher  training  and  its  extensive  industries  and  agricultural 
activities.  The  institution  was  founded  about  forty  years  ago  by  a  pious  monk  of  the 
Trappist  Order,  known  subsequently  as  Abbot  Franz,  who  brought  with  him  a  band 
of  Bavarian  priests.  The  motto  of  the  Trappist  Order  is  "Ora  et  Labora"  and  their 
life  is  given  to  work  and  prayer.  The  plant,  located  in  the  open  country,  is  extensive, 
attractive,  and  substantial  in  character. 

The  staff  is  composed  of  the  Fathers  and  Brothers  of  the  Trappist  Order,  and 
Sisters  of  the  Order  of  the  Precious  Blood,  whose  simplicity  of  outlook,  skill  of 
hand,  hardness  of  life,  and  unswerving  obedience  to  authority,  fit  them  peculiarly 


210 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


for  effective  mission  work.  They  are  assisted  by  Native  teachers  trained  in  the 
institution.  There  is  a  hirge  attendance  of  Native  boys  and  girls  in  all  departments. 
The  school  work  is  based  on  the  syllabus  of  the  Natal  Education  Department,  well 
known  for  its  adaptation  to  the  needs  of  the  Native  people.  Stress  is  laid  on  prac- 
tical subjects,  such  as  methods  of  teaching,  physiology  and  hygiene,  agriculture, 
and  the  Zulu  language.  The  staff  consists  of  a  European  Father,  three  European 
Sisters,  a  colored  man,  and  several  Natives.  A  special  feature  of  the  organization  is  the 
provision  of  a  typical  rural  Native  school,  resembling  those  of  the  open  country, 
where  a  student  teacher  is  in  charge  of  a  simple  institution  of  just  the  type  he  will 
have  when  he  goes  into  the  field.  The  equipment  in  this  school  is  of  the  simplest. 
Additional  furniture  is  manufactured  by  the  student  teachers,  until  at  the  end  of 
the  year  the  school  is  moderately  well  equipped.  The  furniture  is  then  distributed 
among  other  institutions  and  the  new  pupils  begin  with  an  empty  schoolroom. 

The  industrial  activities  at  Mariannhill  include  carpentry,  brickmaking,  stone- 
cutthig,  leather  work  of  all  kinds,  tanning,  blacksmithing,  wheelwrighting,  stained 
glass  work,  photography,  tailoring,  shoemaking,  painting,  printing.  The  printing  press 
is  particularly  interesting.  Here  most  of  the  Zulu  literature  has  been  printed.  Natives 
set  up  the  type  under  the  oversight  of  two  or  three  Brothers.  The  best  known  publi- 
cations are  Bryant's  "Zulu  Dictionary"  and  the  well  known  Native  newspaper 
Izindaba  Zabantu.  The  agricultural  activities  are  especially  good,  the  gardens  being 
models  of  order  and  effectiveness.  Considerable  attention  is  also  given  to  the  raising 
of  poultry.  While  the  industrial  and  agricultural  activities  were  carried  on  with  effic- 
iency, it  appeared  that  the  Brothers  were  more  concerned  with  the  production  of 
articles  of  commercial  value  than  with  the  training  of  Native  labor.  It  is  not  difficult 
to  understand  how  a  master  craftsman  would  be  reluctant  to  allow  semiskilled  Na- 
tives to  waste  material  in  producing  a  half -finished  article.  This  disregard  of  the  train- 
ing features  in  the  shops  is  in  striking  contrast  with  the  adaptation  described  above 
in  the  training  of  teachers  for  simple  rural  schools.  Fortunately  the  Fathers  are 
aware  of  this  defect  and  are  now  anxious  to  change  the  outlook  of  the  Brothers.  The 
industrial  training  of  girls  is  extensive.  The  making  of  laces  and  embroidery  is  done  by 
hand.  Overalls  and  uniforms  are  made  by  power  machinery.  A  considerable  part  of 
this  work  had  some  elements  of  factory  methods. 

Under  the  leadership  of  Father  Bernard  Huss,  the  principal  of  the  training  school 
for  teachers,  the  institution  is  initiating  and  organizing  activities  for  community  bet- 
terment. Father  Bernard  is  interested  in  Native  music,  recreation,  and  school  agri- 
culture. He  is  making  valuable  contributions  in  the  arrangement  of  agricultural 
instruction  in  elementary  schools  and  is  the  author  of  a  standard  textbook  on  agri- 
culture for  Native  schools.  His  collection  of  Zulu  songs  for  school  use  is  centering  the 
attention  of  the  Native  people  upon  the  beauty  of  their  own  music.  Under  his  direction 
the  normal  students  have  dramatized  stories  of  Native  life  and  are  thus  building  up 
an  interest  in  the  folklore  of  the  country.  He  is  also  awakening  genuine  interest  in  the 
recreation  of  the  people  and  making  large  use  of  the  helpful  games  and  pleasures 
which  he  finds  in  the  Native  villages. 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


211 


Amanzimtoti  Institute 

Ainanzinitoti  Institute,  founded  in  1848  by  Dr.  Adams  of  the  American  Zulu 
Mission,  is  noted  for  its  remarkable  influence  on  the  training  of  teachers  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Natal.  The  school  combines  the  thoroughness  of  the  English  educational 
system  with  skill  in  the  adaptation  of  American  methods.  It  is  now  the  largest  train- 
ing institution  for  Native  teachers  in  Natal,  and  in  addition  maintains  a  theological 
training  department,  industrial  training  classes,  three  types  of  secondary  school  work, 
and  the  usual  standards.  All  classes  under  Standard  VI  have  been  placed  in  the 
day  department. 

Principal  LeRoy  has  been  closely  associated  with  all  the  important  educational 
movements  of  the  past  few  years  in  Natal.  His  pamphlet  entitled,  "Does  It  Pay  to 
Educate  the  Native?"  is  generally  regarded  as  the  most  convincing  answer  to  that  im- 
portant question.  The  staff  consists  of  white  teachers  from  America,  Great  Britain, 
and  South  Africa,  and  Native  teachers  from  the  best  schools  of  South  Africa.  The  prin- 
cipal teachers  in  the  departments  of  agriculture,  industry,  teacher  training,  and  theol- 
ogy are  all  specialists  in  their  subjects.  There  are  at  present  about  100  boys  and  70 
girls,  most  of  whom  have  come  from  the  schools  of  the  American  Zulu  Mission.  The 
demand  for  admission  to  this  school  is  so  great  that  fully  half  the  applicants 
have  to  be  rejected  for  lack  of  accommodations.  The  school  plant  is  beautifully 
situated  some  six  miles  from  the  sea,  the  main  buildings  lymg  in  a  basin,  while 
the  dwellings  of  the  staff  members  are  situated  on  the  hills  around.  Jubilee  Hall, 
a  large  brick  building  erected  in  honor  of  Dr.  Adams  on  the  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary of  the  founding  of  the  mission,  is  a  dormitory  for  young  men.  This  build- 
ing is  supervised  by  a  European  teacher  living  on  the  premises.  The  girls'  department 
is  situated  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away.  The  buildings  are  old  and  dilapidated. 
The  buildings  containing  classrooms  are  substantially  built  of  brick  and  stone.  Many 
of  the  buildings  have  been  made  possible  by  rents  received  from  land  reserved  to  the 
American  Zulu  Mission  by  the  Government  of  Natal  in  Crown  Colony  days.  The 
agricultural  building  now  under  consideration  will  probably  be  erected  from  similar 
funds.  While  the  institution  has  made  excellent  use  of  its  building  funds,  there  is  real 
need  of  financial  assistance  to  improve  and  enlarge  the  plant  so  that  it  may  meet  the 
needs  of  the  Natives. 

Inanda  Seminary 

Inanda  Seminary,  officially  known  as  Inanda  High  School  for  Native  Girls,  is  a 
large  and  effective  institution  for  the  training  of  young  women.  It  was  founded  in  1849 
by  Dr.  Daniel  Lindley  of  the  American  Zulu  Mission.  Its  contribution  to  education 
in  South  Africa  has  been  extensive  and  substantial.  It  is  located  in  the  open  country 
and  relates  its  activities  to  the  needs  of  the  Native  communities. 

The  staflf  consists  of  six  European  and  American  women,  one  married  couple,  and 
five  Native  teachers.  The  teachers  are  all  well  prepared  and  much  interested  in  commu- 
nity education.  The  principal  of  the  institution  is  a  woman  of  ability  and  special  train- 
ing for  Native  education.    It  is  noteworthy  that  the  two  former  principals  are  still 


212 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


resident  on  the  grounds,  both  of  them  women  of  unusual  ability  and  devotion  to  real 
education.  Mrs.  Edwards,  now  ninety  years  of  age  and  almost  completely  blind, 
has  given  fifty  years  of  remarkable  service  for  Natives  in  South  Africa.  The  school 
has  capacity  for  300  girls.  The  curriculum  is  based  upon  the  syllabus  of  the  Natal 
Department  of  Education.  The  standard  of  work  is  high  and  its  graduates  are  ac- 
ceptable to  normal  schools  because  of  their  careful  work  and  thorough  English.  Much 
attention  is  given  to  the  manners  and  morals  of  the  young  women.  Provision  is  made 
for  adequate  instruction  in  cooking,  sewing.  Native  crafts,  and  rural  activities.  The 
Native  crafts  include  the  making  of  baskets,  hats,  and  similar  articles.  The  rural  activ- 
ities are  gardening,  poultry-keeping,  and  the  raising  of  pigs.  The  institution  omits 
spinning  and  weaving  because  it  beUeves  home  activities  in  this  field  cannot  compete 
adequately  with  the  factory  system  of  production.  The  chief  emphasis  is  on  the 
preparation  of  teachers,  wives,  and  mothers  for  the  Zulu  people.  The  principal  is 
of  the  opinion  that  the  girls  should  not  be  encouraged  to  enter  domestic  service  so  long 
as  the  school  is  unable  to  supply  teachers  and  community  workers  for  the  Native 
people. 

The  plant  of  the  institution  is  substantial  and  well  arranged.  The  buildings  have 
been  made  possible  through  gifts  from  American  friends  and  appropriations  made  by 
the  Native  Affairs  Department  from  the  Inanda  Reserve  Rents.  As  in  Amanzimtoti 
Institute  and  other  mission  institutions  in  Natal,  these  mission  reserves  were  set  aside 
some  sixty  years  ago  for  the  assistance  of  missionary  education  of  the  Natives.  The 
Natives  are  charged  a  rent  of  about  30  shillings  per  annum  in  addition  to  their  hut  tax 
of  fourteen  shillings.  One-half  of  the  reserve  rent  goes  to  the  mission  school  for  school 
purposes,  while  the  other  half  goes  to  the  government  for  the  general  use  of  the  Natives. 
Among  the  important  buildings  are  the  domestic  science  building  of  about  ten  class- 
rooms, with  a  large  dormitory,  a  dining-room,  and  recreation  room;  and  Lucy  Lindley 
Hall,  built  in  1897,  with  two  large  rooms  downstairs  used  for  classrooms  and  three 
rooms  upstairs  for  dormitory.  There  are  several  other  buildings  used  for  various 
purposes. 

Ohlange  Institute 

Ohlange  Institute  is  one  of  the  very  few  institutions  in  Africa  organized  and 
directed  by  a  Native  African.  The  institution  was  founded  some  twenty  years  ago 
by  the  Rev.  John  L.  Dube,  a  Native  Zulu,  who  had  spent  some  years  in  America. 
It  is  located  in  the  open  country  not  far  from  Inanda  and  Amanzimtoti.  The  members 
of  its  board  of  trustees  were  originally  equally  divided  between  Natives  and  Euro- 
peans.  At  present  all  but  two  are  Natives. 

The  staff  consists  of  the  principal  and  his  brother,  who  is  the  headmaster,  and  sev- 
eral Native  teachers  who  hold  government  certificates  for  teaching.  The  institution 
was  planned  for  the  education  of  Native  boys  and  girls.  At  the  time  of  the  visit  there 
were  only  boys.  There  were  accommodations  for  a  larger  attendance.  The  curriculum 
provides  instruction  in  Zulu,  English  language,  mathematics,  geography,  history, 
grammar  and  composition,  hygiene,  nature  study,  reading,  writing,  and  singing.  The 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


218 


industrial  department  included  training  in  carpentry,  shoemaking,  and  printing.  The 
plant  consists  of  two  substantial  buildings  and  a  one-story  shop  divided  into  sections 
for  instruction  in  trades.  The  provincial  government  recognizes  the  school  and 
gives  it  the  usual  grant-in-aid,  which  amounts  to  approximately  £500  per  annum. 
The  school  has  also  received  financial  assistance  from  the  Department  of  Native 
Afi'airs  and  from  Native  and  European  friends. 

Native  Hospital  and  Health  Activities  of  the  American  Zulu  Mission 

A  notable  work  in  behalf  of  the  health  of  the  large  Native  population  of  Durban 
and  neighboring  Zulu  communities  is  that  being  carried  out  by  Dr.  J.  B.  McCord  of  the 
American  Zulu  Mission.  The  hospital  is  located  in  an  attractive  section  of  Durban. 
The  staff  consists  of  Dr.  McCord,  assisted  by  Mrs.  McCord  and  a  staff  of  eleven  Native 
nurses  who  are  in  training.  Natives  come  to  this  hospital  from  many  parts  of  Natal 
and  the  doctor  is  held  in  high  regard  for  his  skill  and  sympathy.  The  building  consists 
of  the  usual  wards,  four  in  number,  each  containing  ten  beds.  There  is  a  well-kept 
operating  theatre.  The  influence  of  the  hospital  and  Dr.  McCord's  activities  are  felt 
throughout  a  large  area.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  there  is  a  vital  need  for  this  work 
and  for  Native  doctors.  In  one  district  in  Zululand  there  are  48,000  Natives  with  only 
one  European  physician,  who  does  not  know  the  Native  language,  is  not  able  to  travel, 
and  is  willing  to  give  advice  only  at  his  residence.  In  view  of  this  unfortunate  con- 
dition, it  is  proposed  to  select  a  group  of  young  Native  teachers  who  have  completed 
the  tenth  standard,  and  to  offer  them  a  five  years'  course  of  training  at  Dr.  McCord's 
hospital  m  Durban.  The  work  is  deserving  of  liberal  financial  aid  on  the  part  of 
friends  in  South  Africa,  Europe,  and  America.  The  question  of  the  certification  and 
recognition  of  Natives  thus  trained  is  involved  in  the  policy  of  British  and  South 
African  medical  authorities,  who  insist  on  complete  university  training  in  medicine. 
In  view  of  the  tragic  lack  of  any  kind  of  medically-trained  Natives,  it  would  appear 
that  a  provisional  training  of  a  less  extensive  character  should  be  permitted. 

Typical  Native  Institutions  in  The  Transvaal 

The  small  number  of  training  schools  for  Native  and  colored  pupils  in  the  Trans- 
vaal reflects  clearly  the  general  inadequacy  of  educational  provision  for  Natives  in 
this  province.  The  government  reports  only  three  such  institutions  receiving  state 
aid  in  1918.  There  are  probably  two  or  three  other  small  institutions  that  depend 
entirely  on  private  support.  Only  the  Wesleyan  Institute  at  Kilnerton  was  visited 
by  the  Education  Commission  and  its  work  is  briefly  described  to  show  the  influence 
of  the  Transvaal  system  of  education  on  training  institutions.  Undoubtedly  the  most 
important  social  and  educational  work  on  behalf  of  the  Natives  centers  in  Johannes- 
burg. In  view  of  the  very  great  influence  of  Johannesburg  upon  Native  life  in  all 
of  South  Africa,  it  seems  important  to  outline  the  significant  activities  now  being  or- 
ganized for  the  improvement  of  the  great  masses  of  Natives  who  are  brought  to 
Johannesburg  as  laborers  in  the  mines. 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Kilnerion  Native  Training  Institution 

Kilnerton  Training  Institution  is  a  boarding  school  for  young  men  and  women 
who  wish  to  become  teachers.  It  is  owned  by  the  EngHsh  Wesleyan  Church  and 
is  supported  by  the  Church,  with  the  aid  of  the  Transvaal  Department  of  Education. 
Following  the  Transvaal  Teachers'  Code,  the  pupils  are  admitted  to  the  normal  de- 
partment after  completing  Standard  IV.  This  entrance  requirement  is  felt  to  be  too 
low  and  in  practice  })upils  pass  Standard  V.  The  teachers*  course  requires  three  years 
of  study.  The  emphasis  on  literary  subjects  tends  to  exclude  activities  necessary  for 
teachers  of  rural  schools  among  a  primitive  people.  The  examination  and  syllabus  of  the 
Department  of  Education  tend  toward  formal  discipline  rather  than  the  adaptation  of 
education  to  the  needs  of  the  pupils.  The  school  program  gives  evidence  of  the  con- 
flicting influences  of  a  desire  to  prepare  pupils  for  matriculation  and  a  determination  to 
make  provision  for  instruction  in  practical  subjects  like  agriculture.  A  beginning  has 
been  made  in  a  gardening  course.  The  boarding  facilities  for  the  young  women  are 
satisfactory,  but  comparatively  little  attention  is  given  to  domestic  training.  Owing 
to  a  limited  staff,  the  supervision  of  such  outside  activities  as  recreation  was  inade- 
quate. In  a  number  of  respects  the  work  seems  to  be  suffering  from  the  lack  of  a 
clearly  defined  policy  both  on  the  part  of  the  government  inspectors  and  the  super- 
intendent of  the  mission  work.  The  school  plant  is  substantial  and  attractive  in  many 
respects.  There  are  indications  that  the  important  changes  required  for  the  success 
of  the  institution  are  now  under  consideration. 

Johannesburg  Religious  and  Social  Agencies  for  Natives 

The  bringing  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  Natives  from  every  part  of  South  Africa 
to  the  Gold  Ridge  of  Johannesburg  has  developed  both  a  responsibility  and  an  oppor- 
tunity for  the  religious,  educational,  and  social  development  of  these  Natives,  who 
come  for  comparatively  brief  periods  of  time  and  return  to  their  communities  either 
improved  or  degraded. 

The  Johannesburg  region  is  a  series  of  well-developed  suburban  towns,  stretching 
for  ten  miles  on  each  side  of  Johannesburg.  The  aggregate  population  of  all  Johannes- 
burg and  suburbs  is  about  300,000,  being  about  equally  divided  between  black  and 
white,  exclusive  of  the  180,000  Natives  living  in  the  mine  compounds  or  barracks.  The 
Natives  in  the  towns  are  segregated  into  sections  known  as  "locations,"  where  the 
housing  is  prevailingly  bad  and  dangerous  to  health  and  morals.  Some  efforts  are  now 
being  made  to  improve  the  housing  conditions  in  the  locations.  Interspersed  among 
these  suburban  towns  are  the  large  mines  with  the  compounds  in  which  thousands  of 
Native  workers  are  living.  While  the  companies  are  endeavoring  to  improve  the  con- 
ditions of  life  in  the  compounds,  they  are  far  from  satisfactory.  Through  improved 
medical  supervision  the  death  rate  of  workers  has  been  reduced  from  27  per  thousand 
in  1912  to  13  in  1918.  The  sleeping  arrangements  in  many  of  the  compounds  are  ex- 
ceedingly bad.  Only  a  small  proportion  of  the  sleeping  quarters  afford  adequate 
air  for  breathing  and  room  for  living.  In  quantity  and  quality,  the  food  supplied  is 
satisfactory,  but  in  method  of  service  it  could  be  very  much  improved.   The  most 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


215 


serious  defect  in  all  the  compounds  is  the  serious  lack  of  provision  for  the  proper  use 
of  recreation  time.   Facilities  for  recreation  and  education  are  practically  negligible. 

Such  conditions  as  these  present  a  demand  for  every  kind  of  improvement  that  is 
dramatic  in  its  appeal.  This  is  one  of  the  three  most  important  fields  of  service  observed 
by  the  Education  Commission  in  Africa.  A  number  of  agencies,  both  governmental 
and  missionary,  are  endeavoring  to  meet  the  serious  needs  of  the  situation.  The 
government  has  made  some  beginnings  in  the  supervision  of  conditions  of  labor  and 
life.  As  yet  they  are  generally  regarded  as  inadequate.  The  efforts  of  the  mining  com- 
pany have  already  been  mentioned.  A  number  of  mission  societies  are  maintaining 
religious  work  in  the  locations  and  in  connection  with  the  compounds.  Most  of  these 
activities  are  rather  emotionally  religious  and  are  carried  on  with  comparatively 
little  regard  for  the  health  or  the  education  of  the  Native  people.  The  purpose  of  a 
number  of  the  missions  has  been  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  Natives  who  have  come  to 
Johannesburg  from  the  missions  in  various  parts  of  South  Africa  and  Portuguese 
East  Africa. 

The  really  significant  work  for  Natives,  the  organization  and  methods  of  the  Ameri- 
can Zulu  Mission  Board,  under  Dr.  Bridgman,  is  of  such  outstanding  significance  as 
to  require  special  description.  It  is  a  type  of  work  that  may  well  be  adopted  by  other 
missions  dealing  with  similar  conditions.  On  the  basis  of  his  experience  in  Durban, 
Dr.  Bridgman  has  established  in  Johannesburg  a  group  of  activities  very  directly 
related  to  the  conditions  of  life  both  in  the  Native  locations  and  in  the  compounds. 
He  is  assisted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Phillips,  by  Mrs.  Bridgman,  and  a  number  of  Native 
workers.   The  leading  activities  are  as  follows: 

1.  Native  Churches — There  are  some  hundred  small  Native  churches  scattered 
through  the  region,  many  of  which  are  served  by  volunteer  ministers.  These  churches 
are  composed  of  the  Natives  who  have  come  from  the  Zulu  missions  in  different  parts 
of  South  Africa.  The  plan  is  to  list  the  number  of  ordained  Native  ministers  or  Native 
lay  preachers  who  for  various  reasons  may  be  living  in  or  about  Johannesburg.  The 
workers  thus  listed  are  then  assigned  to  various  congregations  so  that  a  regular  pro- 
gram of  services  is  arranged  for  each  week.  The  workers  are  supervised  by  Dr.  Bridg- 
man and  his  assistants.  If  it  were  possible  to  develop  the  cooperation  of  other  mission 
societies,  a  joint  committee  could  be  appointed  to  have  charge  of  all  services  among  the 
various  mission  groups  in  the  Johannesburg  area.  Unfortunately  this  has  not  yet  been 
successful. 

2.  Helping  Hand  Club  for  Native  Girls — Through  the  cooperation  of  Mrs.  Bridg- 
man with  the  Mother  craft  League  of  South  Africa,  this  club  has  been  organized  to 
help  Native  girls  to  find  work  and  a  comfortable  home  in  Johannesburg.  The  com- 
mittee, representing  many  sections  of  the  Christian  Church,  has  been  working  for  five 
years  for  the  organization  of  this  institution,  which  was  opened  in  1919.  The  Home 
consists  of  seven  rooms,  bathroom  and  kitchen,  and  a  house  with  rooms  for  the  super- 
intendent, including  a  large  sitting-room  for  the  young  women.  Games  and  books 
are  provided  and  classes  in  useful  subjects  are  held.  The  building  accommodates 
27  girls,  and  189  girls  were  placed  in  situations  during  a  six  months'  period. 


216 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


3.  Cinematographs  in  the  Compounds — For  the  instruction  and  amusement  of 
Natives  in  the  compounds,  arrangements  have  been  made  to  present  motion  pictures 
within  the  compounds.  The  work  was  begun  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  PhiUips 
as  an  experiment.  Its  value  was  soon  recognized  by  the  mine  authorities,  so  they 
supphed  Mr.  Philhps  with  an  automobile,  which  he  is  using  in  presenting  the  shows. 
Cinematograph  companies  have  been  glad  to  have  Mr.  Phillips  select  and  censor  the 
films  and  the  mine  owners  have  now  agreed  to  install  seventy  machines  in  the  com- 
pounds and  to  make  Mr.  Phillips  superintendent  of  the  whole  undertaking.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  the  value  of  these  shows  is  not  only  in  diverting  the  minds  of  the  thousands 
of  Natives  from  less  helpful  subjects,  but  also  in  giving  to  them  pictures  of  activities 
and  life  that  will  influence  their  own  actions  and,  through  them,  the  actions  of  hundreds 
of  villages  scattered  far  and  wide. 

4.  Bantu  Men's  Social  Center — This  club  has  been  formed  to  provide  for  the  leisure 
time  of  the  many  Natives  employed  in  and  around  Johannesburg.  It  is  an  outgrowth 
of  the  success  of  clubs  of  young  men  that  have  been  meeting  for  various  purposes, 
the  most  notable  of  which  is  the  Gamma  Sigma  Club,  a  group  of  educated  Natives 
who  meet  to  discuss  problems  pertaining  to  the  condition  of  their  people.  The  con- 
stitution provides  that — 

The  activities  of  this  social  center  shall  be  in  accordance  with  Christian  principles,  but  shall  be  un- 
denominational and  sectarian  propaganda  shall  be  debarred.  There  are  to  be  two  classes  of  members 
of  the  society,  European  members  and  Native  members.  The  European  members  have  two  privileges  only, 
first,  payment  of  their  subscriptions,  and  second,  voting  for  eight  members  of  the  executive  committee 
(six  European  members  and  two  Native  members);  they  have  no  right  of  entry  upon  the  premises  except 
by  invitation  of  the  executive  committee.  The  Native  members  are  required  to  pay  a  subscription,  the 
amount  of  which  will  be  fixed  by  the  executive  committee,  and  have  full  privileges  of  membership.  They 
elect  annually  seven  members  of  the  executive  committee  (three  European  members  and  four  Native 
members);  the  executive  committee  will,  therefore,  consist  of  fifteen  members,  nine  Europeans  and  six 
Natives.  The  whole  control  and  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  society  are  vested  in  the  executive 
committee,  who  will  elect  members  of  the  society,  frame  rules  and  regulations  and  by-laws  for  the  conduct 
of  members,  and  administer  all  business.  The  fixed  property  belonging  to  the  society  will  be  vested  in 
three  trustees. 

The  American  Mission  Board  has  given  a  site  valued  at  £2,000,  the  Chamber  of 
Mines  has  given  £3,000,  and  other  sums  have  been  given  by  individuals  and  organiza- 
tions. Owing  to  the  financial  depression  of  1921,  it  has  not  been  possible  to  complete 
the  sum  necessary  to  begin  the  construction  of  a  building  which  is  to  contain  reading 
room,  writing-room,  baths,  and  a  lecture  hall.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  very  impor- 
tant undertaking  may  receive  the  financial  assistance  of  friends  in  South  Africa,  Great 
Britain,  and  America. 

Typical  Native  Institutions  in  the  Orange  Free  State 

The  well  known  indifference  of  the  Orange  Free  State  to  the  education  of  the  Natives 
explains  the  fact  that  only  two  institutions  are  mentioned  in  the  educational  report 
of  the  State  as  giving  any  kind  of  training  to  Natives.  These  two  institutions  are  the 
Girls'  Industrial  School  at  Thaba'  Nchu,  located  on  a  Native  reserve,  and  Stofberg 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


217 


Gedenk  Native  Training  Institution.  The  Stofberg  Training  Institution  is  the  only 
institution  maintained  by  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  for  Natives  within  the  Union. 
This  institution  was  begun  about  thirteen  years  ago  and  has  since  prepared  110  work- 
ers for  the  church.  There  are  at  present  55  pupils  in  the  institution  and  200  children 
in  the  model  school.  The  academic  instruction  is  elementary  in  character.  Only 
eight  of  the  graduates  have  been  ordained  for  mission  work.  The  institution  is  re- 
ceiving the  increasing  support  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  and  there  are  many 
indications  that  the  work  will  soon  be  advanced  and  enlarged. 

Typical  Native  Institutions  in  Basutoland 

The  Natives  in  Basutoland  have  benefited  from  the  fact  that  until  recently  all 
of  the  mission  and  educational  work  has  been  in  the  hands  of  one  society — the 
Paris  Evangelical  Society.  In  recent  years  the  Roman  Catholics  and  the  Church  of 
England  have  undertaken  work  in  this  country.  There  are  now  six  institutions  with 
713  pupils,  and  390  elementary  schools  with  30,222  pupils.  Unfortunately,  it  was  not 
possible  for  the  Commission  to  visit  Basutoland.  Official  reports  all  indicate  that  the 
training  course  is  the  same  as  that  in  Cape  Province,  and  that  most  of  the  training  of 
teachers  is  done  at  the  Morija  Institute. 

Typical  Native  Institutions  in  Rhodesia 

The  active  interest  of  the  Rhodesian  Government  in  the  adaptation  of  education 
has  aheady  been  described.  It  is  unfortunate  that  it  was  not  possible  for  the  Com- 
mission to  make  a  comprehensive  study  in  Northern  and  Southern  Rhodesia.  A 
number  of  mission  societies  are  working  in  this  large  area.  Some  of  them  are  doing 
an  important  educational  work.  The  Education  Commission  was  limited  to  the  ob- 
servation of  only  a  small  part  of  the  work.  The  institutions  herewith  described  are 
presented  as  typical  of  the  more  desirable  forms  of  educational  activities.  The  fol- 
lowing list  gives  some  measure  of  the  educational  work  conducted  by  the  missions: 

Church  of  England,  with  147  schools,  5,020  pupils  qualifying  for  government  grant, 
and  £1,637  grant 

American  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  59  schools,  1,797  pupils,  and  £837  grant 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  98  schools,  2,802  pupils,  and  £828  grant 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  64  schools,  3,168  pupils,  and  £1,524  grant 

Dutch  Reformed  Church,  179  schools,  6,229  pupils,  and  £1,986  grant 

London  Missionary  Society,  64  schools,  2,122  pupils,  and  £555  grant 

American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  9  schools,  833  pupils,  and  £526  grant 

Presbyterian  Church,  16  schools,  233  pupils,  and  £44  grant 

Seventh  Day  Adventists,  29  schools,  508  pupils,  and  £240  grant 

Brethren  in  Christ,  20  schools,  240  pupils,  and  £96  grant 

South  African  General  Mission,  2  schools,  64  pupils,  and  £75  grant 

Church  of  Sweden,  2  schools,  35  pupils,  and  £13  grant 

Church  of  Christ,  2  schools,  34  pupils,  and  £26  grant 

Salvation  Army,  5  schools,  146  pupils,  and  £44  grant 


218 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Fart}i  and  Agricultural  School 

The  Farm  and  Agricultural  School  is  a  small  educational  institution  whose  plant, 
organization,  and  methods  are  all  based  on  the  needs  of  the  Native  people  in  the  open 
country  of  their  reservations.  The  school  was  organized  by  the  Rhodesian  Director 
of  Native  Development,  Mr.  H.  S.  Keigwin,  and  it  is  conducted  by  the  government. 
The  work  was  begun  in  June  of  1920,  with  14  pupils,  and  there  is  now  an  attendance  of 
50  boys.  Of  these  four  have  been  sent  by  missionaries,  ten  have  come  on  their  own 
initiative,  and  the  others  on  the  recommendation  of  Native  Commissioners.  The 
first  40  boys  were  received  free  of  charge,  but  the  newcomers  are  expected  to  pay 
£3  per  annum,  though  this  fee  is  remitted  under  certain  circumstances.  A  day  school, 
containing  some  35  pupils,  has  been  opened  for  pupils  from  the  reservation.  These 
pupils  receive  three  hours'  instruction  daily  and  in  return  render  service  in  connection 
with  the  gardens  or  buildings  of  the  school.  The  activities  for  the  regular  pupils  in- 
clude three  hours  of  classroom  instruction  and  seven  in  manual  instruction  and  Native 
crafts.  Each  boy  has  his  individual  garden  and  the  plan  requires  that  all  the  boys 
shall  be  taught  to  grow  wheat,  "mealies,"  and  Native  crops.  The  manual  instruction 
is  good,  but  the  classroom  work  is  not  well  planned  nor  sufficient  in  extent.  The 
staff  consists  of  two  Europeans,  two  Natives,  and  a  Native  pupil-teacher.  The  Euro- 
pean principal  is  a  good  administrator  and  generally  efficient  in  farming  and  manual 
work.  The  other  European  is  a  skilled  carpenter  and  builder.  The  chief  Native 
teacher  is  well  trained  in  teaching  methods  and  classroom  subjects.  The  plant  con- 
sists of  600  acres  of  land  and  several  "pise  de  terre"  buildings.  Mr.  Keigwin  and  the 
boys  began  the  work  literally  in  the  bush,  first  erecting  temporary  buildings  of  poles 
and  straw,  and  then  proceeding  to  erect  the  permanent  buildings.  There  are  at  present 
two  dormitories,  two  work  shops,  a  saw  pit,  a  schoolroom  and  dining-room  combined, 
and  houses  for  European  and  Native  staff.  A  good  plan  for  the  future  development 
of  the  institution  has  been  laid  out  and  building  operations  will  continue  for  the  next 
two  years.  The  extension  of  this  type  of  building  for  the  Native  people  would  have  a 
decidedly  civihzing  influence.  Mr.  Keigwin's  summary  of  the  results  to  date  gives  a 
fair  estimate  of  the  work: 

A  small  beginning  has  been  made.  Though  there  is  probably  no  deep  consciousness  of  what  it  all 
means,  there  is,  I  am  sure,  a  realization  of  better  things.  During  the  year's  course,  assuming  that  the 
pupil  does  not  continue  further,  he  will  have  learnt  something  of  cleanliness,  order,  punctuality,  and  appli- 
cation. He  will  have  seen  that  it  is  possible  for  him  out  of  the  resources  around  him  to  build  a  much  better 
house,  to  provide  better  surroundings  for  the  home,  to  get  more  out  of  a  smaller  piece  of  land,  and  in  all 
probability  to  earn  a  better  wage. 

While  the  purpose  and  general  plan  of  the  institution  are  sound,  there  is  evident 
need  for  greater  emphasis  on  classroom  instruction,  more  provision  for  recreation  and 
religious  influences,  and  the  more  active  cooperation  of  missionary  societies. 

Hope  Fountain  School  for  Girls 

Hope  Fountain  is  a  simple  school  in  the  open  country,  with  educational  activities 
related  to  the  needs  of  Native  girls.    The  Hope  Fountain  Mission  was  organized 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


219 


by  the  London  Missionary  Society  about  fifty  years  ago,  but  the  present  educa- 
tional plan  of  the  school  was  initiated  about  four  years  ago  by  the  principal,  Mr.  Neville 
Jones.  The  staff  consists  of  the  European  principal  and  his  wife,  together  with 
three  Native  women  from  good  schools  in  Natal  and  Cape  Province.  There  are  about 
70  girls  in  attendance,  all  boarding  at  the  institution.  The  instruction  includes  all 
standards  through  Standard  IV.  The  girls  are  in  school  from  6  to  10  a.  m.  From  10 
to  12  they  receive  instruction  in  sewing,  weaving  with  grass,  or  some  other  form  of 
industrial  training.  The  afternoon  is  spent  in  gardening  and  recreation.  After  com- 
pleting Standard  IV  the  girls  are  sent  to  Tiger  Kloof  for  normal  training.  Arrange- 
ments are  now  being  made  to  include  normal  training  in  the  course. 

The  school  plant  is  exceedingly  simple  and  greatly  in  need  of  development.  The 
buildings  include  a  principal's  house,  girls'  sleeping  and  dining  quarters,  a  small  school- 
room, two  teachers'  cottages,  and  a  large  and  substantially  built  church.  Though  the 
buildings  are  simple  and  in  some  respects  even  primitive,  they  are  kept  in  sanitary 
and  even  attractive  condition  by  the  well  directed  activities  of  the  girls.  The  success 
of  the  principal  in  administering  this  institution  so  effectively  with  such  a  primitive 
plant  and  such  a  small  income  is  to  be  highly  commended. 

American  Methodist  Mission 

The  American  Methodist  Mission  is  conducting  an  important  educational  work 
in  Southern  Rhodesia.  The  society  has  in  all  four  stations,  each  with  school  activities. 
Two  of  the  stations  have  specialists  in  agriculture.  The  largest  educational  work 
is  at  Old  Umtali,  organized  in  1900.  The  other  stations  were  begun  about  1908. 
The  Umtali  station  includes  three  educational  departments.  One  department  pro- 
vides six  standards  of  education.  The  older  pupils  attend  school  in  the  morning  and 
engage  in  various  forms  of  industrial  training  and  Native  crafts  in  the  afternoon. 
The  younger  pupils  do  general  agriculture  and  the  necessary  mission  work  in  the  morn- 
ing and  attend  school  in  the  afternoon.  There  is  also  a  night  school  for  the  farm  and 
industrial  boys.  The  second  department  is  a  women's  school  which  provides  instruc- 
tion in  the  afternoon.  The  curriculum  includes  a  study  of  the  Native  languages, 
the  three  R's,  sewing,  and  hygiene.  The  women  are  divided  into  groups  to  receive 
training  in  nursing,  housekeeping,  and  cooking.  The  third  department  is  a  girls' 
school,  maintained  by  the  Women's  Board  of  the  Methodist  Church.  The  curriculum 
includes  the  usual  classroom  subjects,  with  provision  for  housekeeping,  sewing,  and 
laundry  work.  The  teaching  force  consists  of  three  American  couples,  three  American 
women  in  the  girls'  school,  and  the  nurse,  also  from  America.  There  are  three  Native 
men  teachers  and  three  Native  women  teachers.  There  are  also  16  pupils  in  the 
teacher-training  department  and  four  Native  nurses  in  the  dispensary  who  are  paid 
for  part  of  their  time. 

The  plant  consists  of  one  large  school  building  with  four  classrooms,  another 
school  building  with  two  classrooms,  four  small  buildings  for  shopwork,  one  large 
schoolroom  for  married  women,  separate  rooms  and  a  brick  house  for  sixty  Native  fami- 
lies, four  brick  houses  for  unmarried  boys,  the  printing  office  and  shop,  a  brick  house  for 


220 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


missionaries,  three  dispensary  wards,  a  school-home  for  180  girls,  and  2,800  acres  of 
land  for  gardens,  farm,  and  pasture. 

The  other  three  stations  are  rendering  good  service  but  are  capable  of  doing  much 
more,  especially  in  agriculture.  With  two  trained  agricultural  workers,  the  mission 
is  better  equipped  agriculturally  than  any  mission  society  in  South  Africa.  One  of 
the  agricultural  teachers,  formerly  at  Old  Umtali,  had  unusual  success  in  arousing 
the  interest  of  his  pupils  in  the  simple  essentials  of  rural  life,  such  as  the  cultivation 
of  gardens  and  the  raising  of  chickens.  This  teacher  was  able  to  apply  effectively 
the  practical  knowledge  he  had  obtained  in  one  of  the  American  agricultural  colleges 
to  the  rural  conditions  of  the  Umtali  region.  The  work  of  the  Women's  Mission 
Board  for  girls  and  women,  and  especially  the  activities  of  the  nurses,  have  large 
possibilities  for  Native  education.  The  active  cooperation  of  the  Methodist  schools 
in  the  plans  of  the  Rhodesian  Director  of  Native  Development  will  be  of  great  value 
to  the  cause  of  education  in  South  Africa. 

III.    SUMMARY  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

It  is  evident  even  to  the  casual  observer  that  the  future  development  of  the  African 
continent  and  the  African  people  is  to  be  influenced  increasingly  by  the  remarkable 
advantages  of  South  Africa  over  all  other  sections  of  the  continent  as  regards  climate, 
natural  resources,  and  population  elements.  Part  I  of  this  chapter  briefly  outlined 
these  advantages  as  well  as  the  special  misunderstandings  and  problems  that  have 
resulted  from  the  interaction  of  the  white  and  black  groups  of  the  population.  It  is 
also  clear  that  the  nature  of  the  influence  to  be  exerted  by  South  Africa  depends  upon 
the  relationships  to  be  developed  between  the  white  and  black  people  of  the  great 
sub-continent.  If  white  and  black  are  to  regard  one  another  with  indifference,  dis- 
trust, or  hostility,  if  one  group  is  to  be  exploited  by  the  other  with  all  the  train  of  bit- 
terness to  follow,  then  the  poison  of  racial  hatred  will  retard  or  stop  the  development 
of  the  great  resources,  and  the  evil  influence  of  such  a  condition  will  spread  to  every 
section  of  the  continent.  If,  on  the  contrary,  the  best  statesmanship  of  the  white  group 
and  the  wise  leadership  of  the  black  people  will  realize  that  black  and  white  are  mu- 
tually dependent  in  the  great  task  of  developing  the  resources  and  the  people,  then 
every  effort  will  be  made  to  encourage  sound  and  effective  cooperation  between  the 
races.  There  is  unfortunately  too  much  evidence  of  forces  that  make  for  disruption, 
but  fortunately  there  is  also  evidence  of  forces  that  make  for  racial  cooperation. 
Finally,  it  is  certain  that  the  greatest  factor  in  all  efforts  for  racial  adjustment  is  sound 
and  effective  education  adapted  to  the  life  of  the  people. 

In  view  of  the  vital  importance  of  Native  education  not  only  to  racial  adjustment 
but  also  to  the  future  development  of  South  Africa  and  its  influence  for  good  or  evil 
on  the  whole  continent,  it  is  rather  surprising  that  the  education  of  Natives  has  been 
left  to  the  chance  attitude  of  the  Provincial  Education  Department,  whose  interest 
in  the  Natives  is  almost  of  necessity  diverted,  overshadowed,  and  in  some  areas  ex- 
cluded by  the  strong  public  opinion  of  the  white  population  in  behalf  of  schools  for 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


their  own  children.  The  professional  educator  is  further  confused  in  his  approach 
by  his  technical  interest  and  experience  in  school  methods  based  upon  European 
traditions.  His  constant  tendency  is  to  make  the  training  of  the  Native  fit  into  the 
conventions  of  his  own  professional  plans.  British  school  traditions  are  not  easily 
adapted  to  the  health  needs,  tribal  life,  and  general  conditions  of  the  Natives.  The 
tendency  is  to  depreciate  the  Native  elements  and  to  substitute  those  of  British  tra- 
dition. The  development  of  sound  educational  policies  for  Natives  is  also  delayed  by 
the  wide  variations  of  white  groups,  by  the  differences  of  economic  conditions,  and  by 
the  contradictory  political  and  social  conventions  of  the  four  provinces.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  understand  the  dilemma  in  which  the  organizers  of  the  Union  Government 
found  themselves  when  confronted  with  the  varying  policies  of  the  four  independent 
provinces.  In  those  days,  when  the  fate  of  the  Union  was  hanging  in  the  balance, 
it  is  probable  that  the  negotiators  were  compelled  to  leave  education  to  the  contra- 
dictory policies  of  the  provinces.  Thus  it  has  been  shown  in  Part  II  of  this  chapter 
that  Cape  Province  is  fairly  liberal  in  financial  provision  for  Native  schools,  but  that 
its  conventional  requirements  have  excluded  some  educational  elements  of  vital  im- 
portance to  the  Native  people;  that  Natal  has  within  the  past  few  years  organized  a 
system  of  school  activities  and  a  type  of  supervision  worthy  of  adoption  anywhere  in 
Africa ;  that  the  Transvaal  is  beginning  to  plan  for  the  more  effective  education  of  the 
Natives,  but  that  hitherto  the  public  attitude  has  been  largely  that  of  indifference;  and 
that  the  Orange  Free  State  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  made  a  beginning. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  provincial  poUcies  and  their  justification  in  the  past, 
it  seems  clear  that  the  time  has  come  for  the  Union  Government  to  give  thorough  con- 
sideration to  the  whole  problem  of  educating  the  Native  population.  Such  a  consid- 
eration is  bound  to  require  a  study  of  the  whole  range  of  Native  life,  including  health, 
economic  conditions,  recreation,  homes  and  housing,  types  of  mind  and  character, 
and  finally  the  laws  and  regulations  enacted  by  the  government  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Native  population.  Sound  statesmanship  can  be  content  with  nothing  less  as  the  ulti- 
mate goal.  Such  a  program,  however,  should  not  be  interpreted  to  mean  that  nothing 
can  be  done  until  the  exhaustive  results  have  been  made  available.  There  are  now  at 
hand  sufficient  facts  to  warrant  a  number  of  important  changes  in  Native  education. 
The  recommendations  to  be  submitted  are  based  upon  the  available  data.  They  are 
possible  of  realization  without  unreasonable  demands  upon  the  government  or  the 
public.  However  difficult  of  achievement,  they  are  vital  to  the  well-being  of  the  Native 
and  the  future  development  of  white  and  black  in  South  Africa. 

The  degree  of  success  already  attained  in  Native  education  has  been  described  by 
Principal  LeRoy  of  Amanzimtoti  in  his  well-known  investigation  of  the  question, 
"Does  it  pay  to  educate  the  Native.''"  Some  of  the  significant  statements  are  here- 
with presented: 

We  who  are  in  educational  work  have  reahzed  its  weakness,  and  have  been  insistent  upon  radical 
changes  in  the  curriculum.  At  the  same  time  there  is  danger  of  our  becoming  somewhat  hysterical  in 
our  denunciation  of  native  education,  as  being  "almost  wholly  along  wrong  lines,"  and  as  being  a  "failure." 
The  subjects  taught  may  not  always  have  been  the  most  suitable,  but  there  was  always  the  discipline. 


222 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


the  insistence  on  regularity  and  punctuality,  on  order  and  cleanliness,  on  obedience  and  work,  that  are  the 
foundation  of  character.  We  nuist  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  giving  of  education  that  will  fit  a  man 
for  his  environment  is,  even  for  the  white  man,  of  comparatively  recent  origin.  Technical  schools  and 
domestic  science  classes  for  our  boys  and  girls  were  never  heard  of  until  very  recently,  but  it  does  not 
necessarily  follow  that  all  of  the  education  we  receive  has  proved  a  failure.  So  far  as  native  education  was 
concerned  in  the  past,  the  cry  was:  "Teach  him  to  work  for  the  white  man."  The  success  or  failure  of 
Native  education  was  judged  almost  wholly  by  that  standard.  Now  the  cry  is  "  Back  to  the  land."  "  Teach 
the  Native  to  work  for  himself  and  his  people."  We  welcome  the  change  of  emphasis,  though  perhaps 
these  cries  have  been  anticipated  more  than  is  generally  realized. 

The  following  recommendations  of  changes  in  the  South  African  system  of  Native 
education  are  offered  for  the  consideration  of  South  Africa  and  of  those  in  other  parts 
of  Africa  who  desire  to  profit  by  the  educational  experiences  of  that  important  country : 

1.  That  the  content  of  Native  education  in  South  Africa  be  reorganized  in  accord- 
ance with  the  excellent  recommendations  of  the  Cape  Province  Commission  of  1919 
to  the  effect: 

(a)  that  no  lowering  of  the  standard  of  Native  education  in  principle  or  in  practice  should  be  con- 
templated; (b)  that  school  education  is  too  bookish  and  trains  too  exclusively  for  clerical  or  teaching 
occupations;  (c)  that  the  earning  of  an  honest  livelihood  in  any  capacity  is  not  beneath  the  dignity  of  an 
educated  person;  (d)  that  a  place  should  be  found  for  the  teaching  of  agriculture  in  the  curriculum  of  the 
Native  elementary  and  normal  school;  (e)  that,  at  every  Native  school  above  Standard  IV,  facilities  for 
agricultural  training  for  boys  and  practical  domestic  economy  for  girls,  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  pro- 
vided; (f)  that  the  subjects  of  hygiene,  civics,  religion  and  moral  instruction,  agriculture,  domestic  and 
industrial  training  should  be  compulsory  elements  in  the  training  of  teachers. 

2.  That  the  school  system  of  each  province  be  patterned  after  that  of  Natal, 
with  training  institutes  for  teachers  at  the  top,  high  schools,  intermediate  schools, 
primary  schools,  and  sub-primary  schools.  This  system  provides  a  special  staff  of 
officials,  with  a  chief  inspector  of  Native  education  and  the  necessary  assistant  in- 
spectors, both  European  and  Native;  an  advisory  board,  including  missionaries  and 
government  ofiicials;  and  various  other  provisions  fully  described  under  Natal  in 
Part  II  of  this  chapter. 

3.  That  the  South  African  Native  College  distinguish  between  the  training  of 
teachers  and  leaders  for  the  masses  and  the  training  of  professional  men  and  women 
who  may  require  some  of  the  conventional  subjects  of  British  universities.  The  in- 
creasing emphasis  should  be  undoubtedly  on  such  subjects  as  economics,  sociology, 
physical  sciences,  and  history;  and  also  on  such  technical  subjects  as  education, 
medicine,  and  dentistry. 

4.  That  the  supervisory  system  provide  for  sympathetic  direction  and  friendly 
encouragement  rather  than  mere  critical  inspection.  This  is  recommended  by  the 
Cape  Commission  and  carried  into  effect  by  the  Natal  inspectors. 

5.  That  all  schools,  whether  advanced  or  primary,  be  regarded  as  community 
centers  with  definite  responsibility  for  the  health  and  general  community  needs  of  the 
people, 

6.  That  farm  demonstration  and  health  activities  be  organized  by  the  Union 
Government  and  extended  among  the  Native  people  throughout  the  Union.  To  this 


BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA 


223 


end  agricultural  school  like  Tsolo  must  be  dui)licatecl  for  the  training  of  Native  farm 
demonstration  agents,  and  health  schools  such  as  are  now  being  organized  for  Native 
youth  in  Durban  nmst  be  made  possible. 

7.  That  the  social  center  activities  for  Natives  in  Johannesburg  be  recognized  as 
of  significance  to  all  of  South  Africa,  not  only  as  a  type,  but  as  an  influence  ui)on  the 
Natives  who  come  to  the  gold  mines  and  return  to  their  Native  communities.  To 
this  end  social  and  educational  work  for  the  Natives  of  the  Johannesburg  region  should 
receive  assistance  from  every  part  of  the  Union  and  the  hearty  cooperation  of  all 
the  mission  boards  in  South  Africa. 

8.  That  general  Native  policies  make  possible  the  normal  development  of  the 
Natives  who  have  been  trained  in  industry,  agriculture,  and  sound  habits  of  life.  It 
is  evidently  useless  to  train  Natives  in  agriculture  if  the  land  areas  granted  to  them  are 
too  limited  in  size  or  too  barren  for  profitable  cultivation.  Similarly,  trade  instruc- 
tion is  futile  if  white  trade  unions  are  to  exclude  Natives  from  opportunities  to  follow 
their  trades.  Native  girls  trained  in  housekeeping  cannot  be  encouraged  to  work  in 
urban  homes  until  the  conditions  of  living  are  safe  for  health  and  morals. 

9.  That  the  control  and  administration  of  Native  education  be  assumed  by  the 
Union  Government.  Only  the  Union  Government  can  deal  adequately  with  a  subject 
of  such  varied  and  vital  importance  to  South  Africa  as  Native  education. 


Chapter  X 


ANGOLA 

The  immediate  results  of  a  wisely  adapted  system  of  education  would  probably 
be  greater  in  Angola  than  in  any  of  the  colonies  of  the  West  Coast  of  Africa.  This  is 
because  of  the  unusual  resources  of  soil,  minerals,  and  water  power,  combined  with  a 
climate  favorable  to  labor  and  a  population  susceptible  to  training  and  education. 
Quantitatively  the  educational  facilities  in  the  colony  are  utterly  inadequate.  As  to 
quality,  however,  much  of  the  work  done  in  a  number  of  schools  is  sufficiently  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  the  people  to  indicate  the  type  of  work  that  should  be  done  and  to 
prove  the  possibihty  of  the  people  under  training.  The  schools  for  Natives  are  with 
few  exceptions  the  product  of  missionary  effort.  With  encouragement  from  the  gov- 
ernment and  commercial  concerns  the  influence  of  the  schools  on  the  hygienic,  indus- 
trial, and  character  development  of  the  Natives  could  be  very  greatly  increased.  Un- 
fortunately there  are  indications  that  neither  the  government  nor  commercial  concerns 
have  sufficiently  appreciated  the  importance  of  the  Native  people  in  the  development 
of  the  colony.  Hope  for  the  future  of  Angola  seems  to  rest  in  the  first  instance  upon  the 
statesmanship  of  the  recently  inaugurated  High  Commissioner,  Senhor  Norton  de 
Matos;  secondly,  upon  an  intelligent  and  sincere  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  colony  on 
the  part  of  the  government  ia  Lisbon;  and  thirdly,  upon  a  sound  public  opinion  among 
the  people  of  Portugal.  Part  I  of  this  chapter  presents  the  economic  and  sociological 
backgrounds  of  education  in  a  brief  outline  concerning  the  country,  the  people,  and  the 
European  organizations  in  the  colony.  Part  II  describes  the  educational  facilities. 
Part  III  contains  the  summary  and  recommendations. 

I.   ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIOLOGICAL  BACKGROUND 

Angola  is  a  Portuguese  colony  on  the  southwest  coast  of  Africa,  between  6  and  18 
degrees  south  latitude.  Part  of  its  northern  boundary  is  the  southern  bank  of  the 
Congo  River.  Its  coast  line  of  over  1,000  miles  has  three  good  harbors  in  use  and  others 
that  could  easily  be  developed.  In  its  widest  part  it  extends  eastward  800  miles.  Its 
area  of  484,800  square  miles  is  thirty  times  that  of  Portugal,  greater  than  the  area  of  the 
American  southern  states  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  equal  to  the  combined 
area  of  Sierra  Leone,  the  Gold  Coast,  and  Nigeria.  No  enumeration  of  the  population 
has  ever  been  made;  the  estimate  of  5,000,000  people  is  probably  conservative.  There 
are  about  12,000  Europeans,  of  whom  fully  10,000  are  in  the  coast  towns.  An  increas- 
ing number  of  Europeans  are  entering  the  country  and  settling  in  the  highlands  along 
the  railroad. 

The  colony  has  been  administered  by  the  Portuguese  since  1575.  While  the 
resources  of  minerals  and  soil  are  immense  and  the  chmate  is  unusually  favorable  to 
economic  activities  and  labor,  the  Portuguese  Government  seems  to  have  profited 
very  Uttle,  if  any,  by  the  wealth  of  its  great  possession.    Thoughtful  Portuguese 

i 


ANGOLA 


225 


leaders  and  other  impartial  observers  are  agreed  that  the  political  administration  of 
the  colony  has  had  but  a  very  inadequate  regard  for  the  great  possibilities  of  the  soil, 
minerals,  water  power,  and  Native  people. 

THE  COUNTRY  Angola  occupies  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  great  South  African 
plateau,  with  an  average  height  ranging  from  3,000  to  5,000  feet 
and  sometimes  rising  to  8,000  feet.  A  small  area  of  the  extreme  northern  section  par- 
takes of  the  lowland  qualities  of  the  Congo  River.  Along  the  coast  there  is  a  belt  with 
an  average  width  of  100  miles,  which  is  more  or  less  rainless  and  often  barren.  Fully 
two-thirds  of  the  colony  is  a  plateau  of  considerable  fertility,  with  mineral  and  oil 
resources  and  agreeable  climate  that  are  not  equalled  by  any  part  of  West  Africa. 
The  extreme  southern  section  shares  the  arid  conditions  of  the  Kalahari  Desert. 
Geographers  agree  that  the  major  part  of  this  colony  has  a  climate  entirely  favorable 
to  good  health,  resources  capable  of  supporting  a  great  population,  and  waterfalls 
for  the  production  of  power  for  railroads,  electricity,  and  every  form  of  industry  neces- 
sary to  a  well  developed  civilization. 

The  exports  of  the  colony  give  some  impression  of  the  possible  productivity  of  the 
country.  In  1919  these  exports,  exclusive  of  the  Congo  District,  amounted  to  12,- 
000,000  escudos,  at  the  normal  exchange  amounting  to  $12,000,000,  but  at  present 
equivalent  to  about  $1,000,000.  The  chief  products  are  coffee,  rubber,  wax,  sugar, 
vegetable  oils,  cocoanuts,  ivory,  oxen,  and  fish.  Rubber  supplies  are  now  being  ex- 
hausted. Cotton  growing  is  increasing  in  importance.  The  Portuguese  should  receive 
credit  for  introducing  into  Angola  a  variety  of  vegetables,  fruits,  and  some  animals. 
The  more  important  of  these  are  maize,  yams,  tomatoes,  sugar-cane,  orange,  lemon, 
lime,  pineapple,  peppers,  tobacco,  hogs,  and  ducks.  The  agricultural  and  grazing 
possibilities  of  the  Benguela  District  are  especially  noteworthy.  Here  practically 
every  product  of  the  temperate  and  torrid  zones  can  be  raised.  Cattle,  goats,  and 
sheep  thrive  here.  The  Natives  are  known  to  have  smelted  iron  and  made  it  into  wea- 
pons and  useful  implements  for  a  long  period  of  time.  Large  deposits  of  lime  are  easily 
available.  At  present  American  and  European  concerns  are  developing  the  petroleum 
resources  of  the  country  and  the  colony  bids  fair  to  become  one  of  the  world's  important 
sources  of  this  valuable  commodity. 

At  present  there  are  three  harbors  that  are  fairly  satisfactory.  The  Loanda 
harbor  is  large  but  somewhat  shallow  and  has  no  docking  facilities.  It  is  often  re- 
ferred to  as  the  best  harbor  on  the  West  Coast.  From  it  a  railroad  goes  inland  300 
miles.  Lobito  Bay,  about  midway  on  the  coast  of  Angola,  is  fairly  deep  and  promises  to 
become  the  most  important  place  along  the  Angola  coast.  Already  wharves  have  been 
constructed  in  connection  with  the  Benguela  Railroad,  which  penetrates  inland  for 
400  miles.  AtMossamedes  is  another  small  harbor,  deep,  but  not  large  enough  to  warrant 
much  developing.  From  this  port  a  railroad  runs  inland  for  114  miles.  Farther  south 
near  the  boundary  line  of  former  German  Southwest  Africa,  is  Tiger  Bay,  which  has 
great  possibilities  for  development.  Numerous  rivers  rising  in  the  highland  flow  down 
to  the  sea  in  all  directions,  irrigating  the  country.   This  water  power  is  practically 


22G 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


unused  and  could  be  turned  to  great  advantage  with  little  labor.  The  Kwango, 
part  of  the  Congo  system  in  the  northeast,  is  navigable  by  small  steamers  between  the 
falls  and  rapids.  The  Kwanza,  emptying  into  the  Atlantic  just  below  Loanda,  is 
navigable  for  over  a  hundred  miles  up  to  the  rapids.  The  Kubango  in  Benguela  is  said 
to  be  navigable  for  a  distance  of  400  miles  for  small  steamers.  It  is  evident  that  the 
chief  use  of  the  rivers  is  for  power. 

THE  PEOPLE  All  reports  indicate  that  large  groups  of  Native  peoples  of  Angola  are 
of  good  types,  strong  of  body,  and  capable  of  a  high  degree  of  educa- 
tional development.  They  are  chiefly  of  the  Bantu  stock.  Many  of  them  are  tall, 
athletic  looking  people,  well  built  and  vigorous.  They  have  not  been  affected  by  dis- 
ease as  much  as  have  the  people  in  other  sections  of  Africa.  Sleeping  sickness  is  not 
common  among  them  except  in  the  northeastern  section  and  the  small  area  in  the  coast 
district  between  Lobito  and  Benguela  coast.  The  common  diseases  are  malaria, 
hookworm,  smallpox,  leprosy,  elephantiasis,  and  in  the  uplands  goitre  among  the  wo- 
men. \Miile  these  diseases  are  fairly  prevalent,  systematic  effort  by  the  government, 
aided  by  commercial  concerns  and  missionaries,  could  successfully  combat  them. 

Comparatively  little  is  known  about  the  tribal  and  linguistic  divisions  of  the 
people.  Certain  tribes  are  well  known,  and  their  languages  have  been  reduced  to 
writing.  Among  those  known  are  the  Kisi  Kongo,  which  is  used  by  the  Natives  in 
the  territory  of  the  British  Baptists  in  Northern  Angola;  the  Kimbundu  by  the  Natives 
in  the  district  occupied  by  the  American  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission ;  the  Umbundu 
by  the  Natives  of  the  area  occupied  by  the  Congregationalists  and  Plymouth  Breth- 
ren; and  the  Luchazi  in  the  southern  district,  recently  occupied  by  the  South  African 
General  Mission.  The  larger  missions  have  translated  some  books  into  each  of  these 
languages.  These  books  are  largely  portions  of  the  Bible,  religious  books,  elementary 
text  books,  and  pamphlets  of  practical  advice  on  health  and  other  subjects. 

Unfortunately,  statistics  concerning  the  number  of  Native  peoples  in  Angola  are 
very  uncertain.  It  is  generally  believed  that  the  population  is  quite  sparse.  A  total 
population  of  5,000,000  in  an  area  of  almost  500,000  square  miles,  prevailingly  fertile, 
indicates  the  necessity  for  great  increase  in  order  to  make  use  of  the  physical  resources 
of  the  country.  Reports  indicate  a  fair  density  in  the  northern  district,  a  lesser  density 
in  the  districts  immediately  south,  with  numerous  concentrations  in  parts  of  the  dis- 
trict. The  highlands  of  the  Benguela  District,  extending  from  the  coast  to  the  eastern 
boundary,  rank  next  to  the  northern  section  in  density,  with  decided  concentrations 
in  various  parts.  In  view  of  the  splendid  types  of  people  and  of  the  immense  physical 
resources  of  the  colony,  there  is  evidently  a  remarkable  opportunity  for  the  develop- 
ment of  a  strong  civilization  in  this  part  of  Africa. 

EUROPEAN  The  colony  shows  manj^  evidences  of  the  presence  and  work  of  the 

ORGANIZATIONS      Portuguese   Government   and   other   European  organizations. 

Many  miles  of  railroads  have  been  constructed,  roads  have  been 
built,  ports  and  coast  towns  have  been  developed,  new  fruits  and  vegetables  and  ani- 
mals from  Europe  have  been  introduced,  and  industrial  and  commercial  activities 


ANGOLA,  PORTUGUESE  WEST  AFRICA 

The  leading  missions  and  schools  of  Angola  are  located  largely  in  the  interior  areas.  The  colony  is 
thirty  times  as  large  as  Portugal,  and  larger  than  the  combined  area  of  all  the  American  southern 
states  east  of  the  Mississippi  River.  Though  situated  in  the  tropics,  the  colony  for  practically  two- 
thirds  of  its  area  is  a  plateau  with  climatic  conditions  approximating  those  of  the  temperate  zones. 


228 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


have  been  made  possible.  The  educational  facilities  provided  by  Protestant  and  Catho- 
lic missions  and  b^'  the  government  are  described  in  another  section.  ^Vhile  many  ad- 
vantages have  been  introduced  through  the  government,  commercial  organizations, 
and  missions,  the  general  progress  of  the  colony  has  been  by  no  means  proportionate 
to  the  centuries  of  control  exercised  by  the  Portuguese  Government.  In  fact,  there  is 
decided  evidence  that  the  governmental  authorities  in  Portugal  and  in  Angola  have 
failed  to  realize  the  remarkable  possibilities  of  the  resources  and  Native  population. 
One  of  the  notable  exceptions  to  this  indifference  or  ignorance  is  the  attitude  and  inter- 
est of  the  High  Commissioner,  Senhor  Norton  de  Matos,  who  has  shown  a  statesman- 
ship capable  of  developing  the  best  elements  in  the  colony.  Unfortunately,  there  are 
influences  working  against  the  efforts  of  this  statesman,  whose  plans  give  promise 
of  raising  the  colony  from  its  present  low  status  to  the  rank  of  other  well-managed 
African  colonies. 

Portuguese  navigators  began  visiting  this  coast  as  early  as  1480.  They  were  fol- 
lowed by  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  who  established  a  political  connection  with 
the  Portuguese  Government.  This  was  maintained  until  Portugal  became  a  republic, 
when  the  relationship  of  church  and  state  was  severed.  These  missionaries  did  not 
penetrate  very  far  into  the  interior.  The  first  governor  arrived  in  the  Congo  District 
of  Angola  in  1575.  The  authority  of  the  government  has  been  gradually  extended 
into  the  interior  districts.  From  time  to  time  there  have  been  serious  difficulties  with 
the  Natives,  which  have  continued  even  to  the  present  day.  Some  groups  of  consider- 
able size  have  not  yet  recognized  the  authority  of  the  Portuguese  Government  and  its 
right  to  levy  taxes.  Tribal  wars  have  been  practically  ended  through  the  action 
of  the  government,  however,  and  safety  of  travel  has  been  estabhshed  in  a  very  large 
part  of  the  colony. 

Among  the  more  important  contributions  of  European  organizations  has  been  the 
construction  of  roads  and  railroads.  The  colony  is  traversed  by  many  hundreds  of 
miles  of  good  roads.  On  the  central  plateau  of  the  Benguela  District  there  are  over 
a  thousand  miles  of  roads  suitable  for  automobile  travel.  Another  highway,  amounting 
to  hundreds  of  miles,  extends  from  a  point  on  the  Congo  River  in  a  southwesterly 
direction  towards  Loanda.  Still  another  road,  available  for  automobiles,  extends 
from  Loanda  almost  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  colony.  There  are  other  roads  of 
varying  tj-pes  which  connect  practically  all  government  posts  distributed  through 
the  important  districts.  There  are  three  stretches  of  railway  which  have  been  con- 
structed by  private  concerns  and  the  government.  The  railroad  from  Lobito  Bay, 
extending  inland  for  almost  400  miles,  was  begun  in  1902  by  a  British  company.  This 
road,  requiring  great  expenditm-es  and  much  engineering  skill,  is  gradually  being 
extended  towards  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  colony.  The  complete  plan  provides 
for  its  extension  to  the  rich  mineral  section  of  the  Katanga.  This  will  connect  it  with 
the  great  transcontinental  system  which  extends  from  the  Katanga  down  through 
Rhodesia  and  Port  East  Africa  to  Beira  on  the  Indian  Ocean.  The  second  railroad 
begins  at  Loanda  and  extends  inland  over  300  miles  toward  Belgian  Congo.  The 
third  line  begins  at  Mossamedes  Port  in  the  southern  part  of  the  colony  and  extends 


ANGOLA 


inland  for  about  150  miles.  It  is  owned  by  the  government.  This  system  of  roads  and 
railroads,  connected  with  the  ocean  steamship  lines  at  the  ports,  provides  a  system  of 
intercommunication  for  the  economic  development  of  the  country  that  has  unusual 
possibilities. 

The  European  jjopulation  is  variously  estimated  at  from  12,000  to  15,000.  A  very 
large  proportion  are  Portuguese.  Some  of  these  have  been  sent  to  the  penal  colony 
in  and  about  the  city  of  Loanda,  as  offenders  against  the  law  of  Portugal.  There  is 
also  a  small  but  very  important  group  of  Boers  who  have  migrated  from  South  Africa 
to  the  highlands  of  the  interior.  These  Boers  have  had  a  notable  influence  on  the 
agricultural  development  and  Native  life  of  the  interior  sections.  They  early  devel- 
oped an  important  wagon-transport  system  through  the  interior  areas  which  continues 
as  an  important  factor  even  to  the  present  day.  Many  of  the  Portuguese  oflfenders 
have  settled  in  the  colony  and  become  laborers,  traders,  and  to  some  extent  farmers. 
It  must  be  said,  however,  that  the  policy  of  using  Angola  as  a  penal  colony  has  had 
unfortunate  influences  that  cannot  be  justified  on  the  basis  of  international  standards 
of  dealing  with  offenders,  much  less  of  developing  colonial  areas.  There  is  a  consider- 
able mulatto  population  in  the  colony,  especially  in  the  coast  areas.  This  group  is 
growing  in  number  and  in  importance. 

Practically  all  the  important  activities  of  the  colony  are  carried  on  by  the  Portu- 
guese. In  Loanda  and  other  large  centers  of  population,  the  Portuguese  are  not  only 
the  managers  and  supervisors  of  commercial  activities,  but  they  also  do  an  unusually 
large  proportion  of  the  unskilled  as  well  as  the  skilled  labor.  In  other  colonies  all  the 
unskilled  work  and  some  of  the  skilled  activities  are  carried  on  by  Natives.  In  the 
interior  areas  the  Portuguese  are  traders,  maintaining  stores  and  collecting  the  Native 
products  for  shipment  to  the  coast.  Owing  to  the  permanency  of  their  residence  in 
the  areas,  they  are  often  more  influential  than  the  government  officials.  Among  the 
larger  operations  introduced  and  maintained  by  the  Portuguese  are  modern  machine 
shops  at  Loanda,  an  establishment  for  maintaining  pure-breed  cattle,  from  which  ani- 
mals are  sold  throughout  the  colony,  a  roller  mill  at  Huambo  to  produce  a  fine  grade  of 
flour,  and  large  fish-canning  factories  at  Mossamedes.  An  American  company  has 
taken  the  initiative  in  the  development  of  the  petroleum  possibilities  of  the  colony. 
This  company  has  large  works  at  Loanda  in  which  Portuguese  are  employed  as  ofiicers 
and  a  large  number  of  Natives  as  laborers.  The  government  policy  of  granting  conces- 
sions to  foreigners  is  attracting  a  number  of  people  to  the  colony.  The  South  African 
Year-Book  for  1920  states  the  present  regulations  as  follows: 

In  1914  a  decree  was  issued  giving  a  limited  time  during  which  foreigners  might  take  up  plots  of  5,000 
hectares  at  a  preliminary  cost  of  about  £20,  with  an  obligation  to  make  improvements  within  five  years 
to  the  value  of  about  £200,  failing  which  the  concession  becomes  void.  A  later  modification  reduced  the 
extent  of  land  obtainable  to  1,000  hectares.  .  .  .  Failing  objection,  the  land  is  granted  for  five  years 
free,  during  which  time  improvements  to  the  value  of  twenty  years  quit  rent  must  be  effected.  A  concession 
for  the  land  is  then  obtainable  at  an  annual  quit  rent  of  Id.  per  hectare  or  a  single  payment  of  twenty  years 
quit  rent.  Survey  is  obligatory  and  complaints  are  made  that  this  is  unduly  expensive.  Government 
stands  (in  Lobito  Bay)  have  been  allotted  as  follows:  To  local  Portuguese  residents  at  a  fixed  price;  to  other 
Portuguese  at  thrice  that  price;  to  foreigners  at  four  times  the  price. 


230 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


^^^lile  this  policy  is  bringing  to  the  colony  a  number  of  genuine  settlers,  it  has  also 
resulted  in  the  granting  of  large  concessions  to  individuals  who  have  only  a  specula- 
tive interest  in  the  property  and  who  therefore  manage  it  with  but  little,  if  any,  re- 
gard for  the  interest  of  the  Natives  or  the  colony. 

The  chief  officer  of  the  government  is  the  High  Commissioner,  under  whom  there 
are  officers  for  districts.  The  military  and  policing  force  is  composed  of  Natives  under 
Portuguese  officers.  The  estimated  revenue  in  1917  was  133^^  million  escudos,  with 
expenditures  of  163^  million  escudos.*  According  to  these  figures  it  appears  that  the 
administration  of  the  colony  results  in  a  large  deficit  over  the  revenue.  It  is  reported 
that  the  Portuguese  Government  has  always  been  compelled  to  meet  such  a  deficit. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  government  expenditures  are  divided  equally  among  the 
three  departments  of  government,  territorial  administration,  military  affairs,  and  pub- 
lic works.  The  expenditures  for  education,  hospitals,  and  agricultural  development 
are  comparatively  small.  There  is  an  excellent  hospital  in  Loanda  and  small  ones  at 
other  coast  towns.  There  is  also  the  Government  Agricultural  Museum  and  Experi- 
ment Station  at  Loanda,  which  at  the  time  of  visit  was  almost  entirely  unused.  In 
the  interior  there  are  a  few  agricultural  stations  doing  k  limited  amount  of  work. 
In  the  past  the  government  has  made  several  good  beginnings  in  agriculture,  irriga- 
tion, stock-raising,  and  similar  undertakings.  Comparatively  few  of  these  have  been 
placed  on  an  effective  basis. 

The  most  serious  problem  in  the  colony  is  that  of  adequate  labor  to  handle  the 
great  amount  of  work  that  needs  to  be  done  both  by  the  government  and  commercial 
concerns.  This  is  the  result  of  various  conditions — the  sparse  population,  the  fertility 
of  the  soil,  which  enables  the  Natives  to  obtain  comfortable  sustenance  in  their  home 
area,  and  the  unfortunate  methods  practiced  by  employers  to  obtain  cheap  labor. 
Despite  these  difficulties,  a  number  of  commercial  and  industrial  concerns  are  able  to 
obtain  an  adequate  supply  of  labor  for  their  pm-poses.  The  government  has  arranged 
two  methods  of  obtaining  labor.  For  building  roads  and  other  distinctly  government 
tasks,  Natives  may  be  forced  to  work  for  definite  periods  of  time,  without  rations  or 
remuneration.  To  provide  commercial  concerns  with  labor,  the  government  has  ar- 
ranged that  concerns  may  make  contracts  whereby  Natives  are  employed  for  definite 
periods  of  time  for  a  specified  wage.  According  to  the  contract,  the  money  is  to  be  paid 
to  the  government  and  rations  to  be  supplied  directly  to  the  Natives.  At  the  end  of  the 
period  the  natives  are  to  receive  the  specified  wage  and  to  be  returned  to  their  homes. 
The  actual  practice  in  both  of  these  forms  of  labor  depends  entirely  upon  the  honesty 
of  the  government  official  in  charge  and  the  commercial  concern.  The  practice  has 
worked  very  great  injury,  not  only  to  the  Native,  but  to  the  best  interests  of  the  colony 
and  to  the  Portuguese  Government.  Many  clear  instances  of  irregularities  in  the 
methods  of  obtaining  labor  were  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Commission,  and  some 
very  striking  irregularities  were  observed  by  members  of  the  Commission.  Experience 
of  other  colonies  in  all  forms  of  forced  labor  has  convinced  European  government 
authorities  of  the  futility  and  harm  of  such  methods.  They  are  generally  recognized  to 
be  not  only  morally  but  economically  unsound,  and  they  have  been  accordingly  con- 

*See  page  225  for  value  of  escudos. 


ANGOLA 


231 


demned  in  international  practice.  There  is  reason  to  hope  that  under  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  new  High  Commissioner,  Senhor  Norton  de  Matos,  these  unsound  labor 
policies  will  be  abandoned. 

II.  EDUCATION 

Though  Angola  has  had  European  contacts  for  over  four  centuries,  the  educational 
development  of  the  colony  has  been  very  Hmited  in  geographical  extent  and  elementary 
in  grade.  The  economic  and  cHmatic  conditions  and  the  excellent  Native  population 
afford  opportunity  for  educational  development  equal  to  that  in  any  part  of  Africa. 
Mission  societies  have  worked  with  devotion  and  wisdom  in  several  districts.  The  edu- 
cational activities  of  the  Congregationalists  in  the  Benguela  District,  the  Baptists  in  the 
north,  and  the  Methodists  in  Loanda  District  are  notable.  Under  the  Portuguese 
monarchy  the  Roman  Catholic  Missions  represented  the  educational  interests  of  the 
government  and  they  maintained  a  very  limited  amount  of  school  work.  Unfortu- 
nately, the  participation  of  the  government  in  providing  educational  facilities  has 
been  almost  negligible.  No  regular  system  of  financial  support  to  mission  schools 
has  been  provided  by  the  government.  If  the  estimate  of  the  total  population  is 
accepted  as  4,000,000,  the  number  of  children  of  school  age  will  be  800,000.  By  the 
most  liberal  count,  there  are  only  25,000  under  any  kind  of  educational  influence. 
The  overwhelming  proportion  of  even  this  number  are  in  schools  that  are  so  primitive 
in  character  as  to  fail  to  meet  the  simplest  test  of  education  in  America  or  Europe. 
The  present  policy  of  the  government  practically  nullifies  nine-tenths  of  even  these 
educational  provisions.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Portuguese  Government  will 
recognize  the  wisdom  of  the  Belgian  authorities  in  the  encouragement  of  educational 
aid  from  Emopean  and  American  agencies  who  desire  to  cooperate  loyally  with  them 
in  their  great  responsibilities. 

GOVEKNMENT  AND  EDUCATION 

Since  the  monarchy  has  been  abolished  and  the  very  limited  facilities  provided  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  have  been  denied  government  aid,  the  colonial  authori- 
ties have  made  practically  no  provision  for  education  in  the  colony.  A  few  of  the  more 
progressive  government  officials  have  sought  to  provide  for  an  effectual  training  of 
the  Native  population.  The  High  Commissioner  has  contemplated  the  opening  of 
primary  schools  in  which  the  three  R's  are  to  be  taught  to  all  the  boys  and  girls, 
together  with  instruction  in  the  Native  arts.  A  few  schools  have  been  organized  and 
maintained  in  Loanda  and  small  beginnings  are  reported  in  a  few  of  the  interior  dis- 
tricts. These  schools  are  chiefly  used  by  whites  and  mulattoes.  As  yet,  however, 
the  plan  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  been  initiated.  At  the  time  of  visit  the  govern- 
ment could  not  supply  even  the  statistics  of  school  activities  or  any  kind  of  welfare 
work  in  behalf  of  the  Natives.  There  was  not  even  an  evidence  of  definite  attitude 
toward  mission  activities.  The  splendid  men  and  women  from  many  parts  of  the 
world  who  have  been  in  the  colony  for  many  years  are  permitted  to  work  on,  sometimes 
with  encouragement,  but  often  with  an  appearance  of  antagonism. 

In  December,  1921,  the  colonial  government  issued  a  decree  of  great  significance 


232 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


to  the  colony.  The  decree  contains  a  statement  of  the  high  purposes  of  the  govern- 
ment in  behalf  of  the  Natives,  and  provides  rules  and  privileges  for  educational  mis- 
sions that  will  be  of  decided  help,  with  one  notable  exception.  The  exception  is  the 
government  order  prohibiting  the  schools  to  teach  the  Native  languages  or  to  print 
books  of  religion  or  instruction  in  the  Native  languages.  This  prohibition  is  clearly 
a  denial  of  a  fundamental  human  right  and  contrary  to  the  best  educational 
methods  of  practically  all  civilized  nations.  With  one  exception,  the  great  colonial 
powers  of  the  world  are  giving  increasing  recognition  to  Native  languages.  This  is 
regarded  as  a  part  of  the  movement  for  human  liberty,  and  is  discussed  more  fully  in 
other  parts  of  this  chapter  as  well  as  in  other  chapters  of  this  Report.  The  regula- 
tions pertaining  to  identification  cards  and  other  details  of  mission  work  left  to  local 
administrators  may  be  easily  used  for  the  persecution  of  Natives  and  missionaries. 
The  other  articles  of  the  decree  will  undoubtedly  improve  the  educational  facilities 
for  the  Natives  if  they  are  applied  by  officials  who  have  the  sincere  interest  of  the 
Natives  and  the  larger  development  of  the  colony  in  mind.  The  decree  is  of  such 
importance  as  to  require  presentation.  A  rather  free  translation  of  the  document  is 
presented  herewith: 

DECREE  77 

High  Commissariat  of  the  Republic,  in  Loanda,  December  9,  1921. 
High  Commissioner,  Jose  Mendes  Ribeiro  Norton  de  Matos. 
Preambu;: 

Considering  that  the  Portuguese  poHtical  constitution  guarantees  liberty  to  all  forms  of  worship,  it 
however  behooves  the  Government  of  the  Province,  as  a  right  of  sovereignty,  to  regulate  and  oversee 
the  action  of  missions  of  religious  propaganda,  so  as  to  insure  security  and  public  order,  and  to  guarantee 
the  maintenance  of  the  precepts  of  Portuguese  Constitutional  law; 

Since  it  is  incumbent  on  the  Government  to  promote  the  betterment  of  the  material  conditions  of 
the  life  of  the  Natives,  the  perfecting  of  their  aptitudes  and  natural  faculties,  and  in  a  general  way  their 
instruction  and  progress; 

Having  heard  the  Executive  Council,  and  using  the  faculties  which  are  granted  to  me  by  the  laws  Nos. 
1005  and  1022,  respectively,  of  the  7th  and  20th  of  August,  1920; 
I  deem  it  well  to  decree  the  following: 

Article  1.  No  mission  for  teaching  and  for  religious  propaganda  may  be  established  in  the  Pro\'ince 
of  Angola  without  previous  permission  of  the  Governor  General,  the  request  for  such  to  be  accompanied 
by  an  indication  of  the  locality  where  it  is  proposed  to  found  it,  the  mission  being  required: 

1.  To  prove  that  the  members  are  ministers  of  the  religion  they  profess  or  auxiliaries  of  the  mission. 

2.  To  submit  for  the  approval  of  the  Governor  General  the  civilizing  program  it  proposes  to  execute. 

3.  To  teach  the  Portuguese  language. 

4.  Not  to  teach  any  foreign  language. 

5.  To  instruct  the  Natives  in  manual  training  or  in  agriculture  in  harmony  with  the  legislation  in  force 
in  the  Province. 

6.  To  cooperate  in  the  relief  of  the  Natives  from  the  point  of  view  of  hygiene  and  treatment  of  diseases. 

7.  Not  to  take  part  in  commerce  either  directly  or  indirectly,  it  being  understood  that  this  does  not 
affect  the  sale  or  disposal  of  the  products  of  the  work  of  the  mission. 

8.  To  send  annually  to  the  governor  of  the  district  a  report  of  the  activities  of  the  schools,  workshops, 
and  hospitals  of  the  mission,  where  there  are  such,  work  accomplished  and  the  results,  and  the 
benefits  reaped  from  the  activity  of  the  mission. 


ANGOLA 


Article  2.    It  is  not  permitted  to  teach  Native  languages  in  mission  schools. 

Article  3.  The  use  of  the  Native  language  is  only  allowed  orally  in  religious  instruction  and  as  a 
help  during  the  elementary  period  of  teaching  the  Portuguese  language. 

1.  The  use  of  Native  languages  in  written  form  or  of  any  other  language  besides  the  Portuguese,  by 
means  of  pamphlets,  papers,  leaflets,  or  any  kind  of  manuscripts,  is  forbidden  in  the  religious 
teaching  of  the  missions,  in  their  schools  or  in  any  relations  with  the  Natives. 

2.  Books  for  religious  teaching  are  not  permitted  in  any  language  other  than  Portuguese;  the  Portu- 
guese text,  however,  may  be  accompanied  by  a  parallel  version  in  the  Native  language. 

3.  The  oral  employment  of  the  language  referred  to  in  this  article  and  also  the  use  of  the  version  in 
the  native  language  in  the  terms  of  the  preceding  paragraph,  are  only  allowed  transitorily  and  while 
the  knowledge  of  the  Portuguese  language  is  not  general  among  the  Natives ;  it  being  expected  that 
the  missionaries  will  substitute  successively  and  as  much  as  possible  in  all  their  relations  with  the 
Natives,  as  also  in  formal  instruction,  the  Native  languages  with  the  Portuguese  language. 

Article  4.  The  terms  of  the  two  preceding  articles  do  not  prevent  linguistic  studies  or  any  other  work 
of  scientific  investigation,  the  Government,  however,  reserving  the  right  to  forbid  their  circulation  when, 
by  means  of  an  administrative  inquiry,  it  is  recognized  it  may  be  prejudicial  to  public  order  and  the  liberty 
or  the  security  of  the  citizens  and  of  the  Native  populations. 

Article  5.  Missions  are  not  allowed  to  establish  branches  or  schools  to  be  in  the  charge  of  Natives, 
or  to  instruct  Natives  with  the  work  of  religious  propaganda  without  such  Natives  being  in  possession  of  a 
recognized  identification  card  (bilhete  de  identidade)  granted  by  the  respective  administrator  or  military 
oflBcer  when  they  shall  have  been  presented  by  the  principal  of  the  mission. 

1.  WTienever  an  outstation  with  a  school  is  under  consideration  the  "Bilhete  de  identidade"  cannot 
be  given  unless  the  Native  teacher  is  able  to  speak  the  Portuguese  language. 

2.  The  "Bilhete  de  identidade"  may  be  withdrawn  whenever  there  is  an  infraction  of  the  terms  of 
Articles  2  and  3  or  when  the  administrator  or  military  officer  recognizes  that  the  action  of  the 
teacher,  or  of  the  person  intrusted  with  the  religious  teaching,  is  inimical  to  public  security  and 
order,  but  in  such  a  case  the  principal  of  the  mission  and  the  person  involved  must  first  be  heard. 

3.  In  case  a  "Bilhete  de  identidade"  is  refused  or  withdrawn,  recourse  may  be  had  to  the  governor  of 
the  district  who  will  give  the  final  decision. 

Article  6.    To  religious  missions  the  following  advantages  will  be  granted: 

a  A  free  concession  up  to  500  hectares  of  land,  the  foreign  missions  being  subject  to  the  terms  of  the 
law  of  concessions  of  state  lands  in  the  Province  of  Angola  held  by  foreigners. 

b  The  free  cutting  of  timber  in  the  state  forests  for  buildings  and  all  kinds  of  construction,  including 
furniture,  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  missions  and  their  dependencies. 

c  An  annual  subsidy  of  $3,000  (three  thousand  escudos)  to  each  mission  which  may  have  in  its  perma- 
nent employ  a  European  teacher,  whether  missionary  or  not,  who  may  possess  the  qualifications 
and  ability  to  teach  the  Portuguese  language. 

d  An  annual  subsidy  of  $360  (three  hundred  and  sixty  escudos)  for  each  permanent  rural  school 
directed  by  a  Native  teacher  who  has  the  ability  demanded  for  Native  teachers  referred  to  in 
decree  No.  15  of  the  High  Commissioner  of  the  19th  of  May,  1921. 

Article  7.  The  terms  of  the  Carta  Organica  of  the  Province  relative  to  foreigners  apply  to  foreign 
missionaries.  Exception — Residential  papers  and  their  renewal  are  exempt  from  the  stamp  tax  and  of  any 
kind  of  tax  or  charges. 

Article  8.     Any  mission  will  be  closed  by  the  Governor  General,  in  Executive  Council,  when — 

1.  In  its  constitution  and  services  it  fails  to  maintain  the  requirements  of  this  decree. 

2.  It  becomes  incompatible  with  the  Native  populations  of  the  region  where  it  is  established. 

3.  Its  presence  and  activity  are  entirely  destitute  of  civilizing  influence. 


2S4 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


4.  Its  permanent  presence  becomes  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  national  sovereignty  and  to  order 
and  pubUc  security.  Exception — The  closing  of  a  mission  will  always  be  preceded  by  an  admin- 
istrative inquiry  in  the  presence  of  the  missionaries  and  other  workers  of  the  mission. 

Articij;  9.  The  religious  missions  which  have  been  under  or  may  come  under  the  protection  of  decree 
No.  GSi'i  of  the  2nd  of  January,  1920,  will  have  the  obligations  and  advantages  established  by  that  decree 
and  will  remain  subject  not  only  to  its  terms  but  also  to  those  of  this  decree. 

Article  10.  Religious  missions  will  be  granted  until  the  31st  of  December,  1922,  to  fulfill  completely 
the  present  decree. 

Article  11.  The  services  in  regard  to  religious  missions  are  considered  as  provincial,  it  being  the 
duty  of  the  Secretary  for  Colonization  and  Native  Affairs,  of  the  Governors  of  Districts,  and  of  the  Ad- 
ministrators of  Divisions  and  Military  Officers  to  put  into  effect  the  terms  of  the  present  decree  and  the 
organization  of  the  register  of  the  religious  missions. 

Article  12.    All  previous  legislation  of  a  contrary  character  is  revoked. 

I  declare,  therefore,  that  all  the  authorities  to  whom  the  knowledge  of  an  application  of  this  decree 
belongs  shall  fulfill  it  and  cause  to  be  fulfilled  in  its  entirety  all  contained  therein. 

The  High  Commissioner, 

Jose  Mendes  Ribeiro  Norton  de  Matos 

Loanda,  December  9,  1921 

The  schools  maintained  by  the  government  are  attended  almost  exclusively  by 
white  and  mulatto  pupils.  The  more  important  of  them,  located  in  Loanda,  are 
seven  primary  and  grammar  schools,  five  for  boys  and  two  for  girls.  Three  are  taught 
by  priests  and  four  by  civilians  from  Portugal.  There  are  a  few  Portuguese  women 
in  the  girls'  schools.  Each  school  includes  eight  grades  taught  by  one  teacher,  all 
grades  being  in  one  large  room.  Sewing  is  required  of  the  girls.  There  is  also  one 
secondary  school,  which  was  opened  about  a  year  ago.  The  staflF  consists  of  a  Roman 
Catholic  priest,  assisted  by  a  Portuguese  civilian  and  one  British  subject  who  teaches 
English.  The  course  covers  three  years  of  instruction  and  the  five-room  building  is 
attractive  and  substantial. 

The  Riat  Norton  de  Matos  School  was  built  eight  or  nine  years  ago  and  named  in 
honor  of  Governor  de  Matos'  daughter.  The  school  is  in  a  good  building  on  one  of 
the  heights,  with  classrooms,  sewing-room,  a  dining-room,  and  accommodations  for 
teachers.  The  staff  consists  of  two  women.  Instruction  consists  of  reading  and  writ- 
ing, sewing,  laundering,  cooking.  The  pupils  are  mulatto  and  Native  girls  between  the 
ages  of  ten  and  sixteen,  who  come  to  the  school  in  the  morning  and  remain  until  the  end 
of  the  afternoon  session,  the  noonday  meal  being  served  at  the  school.  The  Asylo 
School  is  a  boarding  institution  for  orphan  girls,  supported  by  the  government. 
There  are  about  fifty  mulattoes  and  some  white  pupils.  The  staff  includes  several 
teachers,  and  the  course  covers  eight  grades  of  instruction,  with  some  practice  in  house- 
hold activities.  The  seminary  is  a  Catholic  school,  used  for  the  training  of  religious 
workers.  The  agricultural  school  is  attended  by  fifteen  boys,  who  receive  about 
two  hours'  instruction  each  day  and  spend  the  remainder  of  the  time  in  a  cotton  fac- 
tory. They  are  nearly  all  mulatto  boys  who  have  been  taken  in  charge  by  the  govern- 
ment authorities  for  various  reasons. 


ANGOLA 


285 


The  government  maintains  an  agricultural  museum,  a  substantial  building  in 
Loanda  containing  a  well-equipped  laboratory,  a  small  collection  of  plants,  animals, 
insects.  Native  weapons,  and  curios  from  various  parts  of  the  colony.  Unfortunately, 
the  government  has  not  been  able  to  supply  a  chemist  or  a  physicist  to  make  use  of  the 
laboratory  or  the  museum.  The  second  story  was  intended  as  a  classroom  for  scien- 
tific pupils.  At  present  it  is  used  by  a  few  boys  who  are  taken  from  the  streets  of 
Loanda  as  delinquents  or  orphans.  Outside  the  building  there  is  a  garden  in  which 
effort  is  made  to  carry  on  experiments  with  plants  and  pigs.  It  is  evident  that  the 
possibilities  of  the  museum,  laboratory,  and  gardens  are  not  being  realized. 

The  government  schools  in  Loanda  are  supplemented  by  three  private  institutions. 
Two  are  owned  and  maintained  for  profit  by  mulatto  women.  Both  schools  offer 
eight  grades  of  instruction,  and  all  the  pupils  are  mulattoes,  some  of  whom  are  board- 
ers. The  third  school  is  owned  by  the  American  Methodists,  and  includes  white, 
mulatto,  and  Native  pupils. 

Roman  Catholic  Missions 

In  the  early  days  of  the  colony  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  recognized  by 
the  government  as  part  of  the  State.  Its  work  was  established  at  San  Salvador  in 
1491  and  the  institution  was  in  charge  of  all  educational  activities  until  1908.  The 
Bishop  at  Loanda  presided  over  a  council  composed  of  two  teachers  of  the  principal 
school  and  three  other  nominated  members.  When  the  church  was  at  its  height  in 
the  colony,  it  reported  85,000  adherents  in  39  parishes,  250  churches,  and  43  lay  clergy. 
Sir  Harry  Johnston  writes  that  early  in  the  sixteenth  century  a  Native,  educated  in 
Lisbon,  was  made  bishop,  and  that  from  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  both  Chris- 
tian and  Portuguese  influence  faded  slowly  and  the  country  relapsed  into  heathenism. 
In  1852  a  Portuguese  historian  reported  that  most  of  the  missions  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
oUcs  had  fallen  into  decay,  many  in  the  interior  were  abandoned,  and  only  thirteen 
priests  were  left  in  the  country.  Their  centers  were  at  Loanda,  San  Salvador  de  Congo, 
Landana,  Malange,  Santo  Antonio  de  Celulo,  Bailundo,  Caconda,  Huilla,  Bihe', 
Jan,  Cuanhama.  Since  1852  the  Society  of  the  Holy  Ghost  has  developed  work  in 
the  Benguela  District.  The  Society  of  the  Sacred  Heart  has  a  station  at  Huilla 
in  the  Mossamedes  District,  where  it  has  a  large  industrial  institution.  This  station 
is  doing  botanical  research  work.  There  are  36  priests,  two  of  whom  are  Africans.  The 
chiu-ch  also  maintains  a  seminary  at  Huilla  and  a  few  scattered  mission  schools. 

Protestant  Missions 

Angola  is  fortunate  in  having  a  number  of  strong  mission  societies  working  for 
the  rehgious  and  educational  development  of  the  Native  people.  The  British  Bap- 
tists are  in  the  northern  section,  with  San  Salvador  as  their  headquarters.  The 
American  Methodists,  whose  work  started  at  Loanda  in  1885,  have  extended  inland 
from  that  point.  The  American  Congregationahsts  penetrated  the  interior  from 
Benguela  on  the  coast  in  1882.  The  Plymouth  Brethren  share  the  central  areas  of 
the  colony  with  the  Congregationahsts.   In  the  southern  section  there  are  the  Swiss 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Mission,  with  one  station,  and  the  South  African  General  Mission,  with  one  station. 
In  spite  of  many  obstacles,  the  representatives  of  all  of  these  societies  have  rendered 
valuable  services  to  the  Native  and  the  colony.  Some  of  them  have  organized  edu- 
cational activities  that  rank  with  the  best  in  Africa.  With  encouragement  from  the 
government  and  adequate  support  from  the  home  boards,  their  work  can  become  the 
most  important  factors  in  the  development  of  the  great  possibilities  of  land,  climate, 
and  Native  population  of  Angola. 

Baptist  Missionary  Society 

The  British  Baptist  Mission  Society,  famous  for  its  important  work  on  the  Congo 
River  in  Belgian  territory,  began  its  work  at  San  Salvador  in  1879.  Education  holds  a 
fundamental  position  in  all  its  activities.  At  present  it  maintains  two  stations,  with 
many  outschools  in  the  northern  district  of  the  colony.  It  is  significant  that  this  strong 
society  gives  expression  to  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  its  work  in  Angola  owing  to 
lack  of  food  and  depopulation  of  the  districts  through  disease  and  pressure  for  labor. 
The  large  head  tax,  required  even  of  the  Native  teachers,  works  great  hardship  on 
the  Native  people  and  educational  work  in  their  behalf. 

San  Salvador  Station 

The  San  Salvador  station  was  founded  on  the  site  of  an  abandoned  Roman  Cath- 
ohc  mission  which  had  been  maintained  by  the  Portuguese  Government  before  the 
separation  of  church  and  state.  The  origin  and  position  of  the  station  are  well 
described  in  the  following  quotation  from  the  report  of  the  society : 

The  establishment  and  growth  of  our  work  at  San  Salvador  soon  brought  the  Portuguese  Government 
authorities  to  the  district,  and  also  the  Romanists,  who  occupied  the  next  plot  close  alongside  the  B.  M.  S. 
The  result  today  is  the  curious,  ahnost  unique,  spectacle  of  two  sets  of  mission  buildings,  one  Protestant 
and  the  other  Romanist,  side  by  side  on  the  same  road.  The  town  of  San  Salvador  is  practically  divided 
into  two  halves  at  the  boundary  stone  of  the  missions,  one-half  consisting  of  the  adherents  of  the  B.  M.  S. 
who  have  their  residences  on  the  north  side  of  the  town  nearest  B.  M.  S.,  and  the  other,  including  the  Portu- 
guese oflBcial  and  military  quarters,  occupying  the  other  side. 

The  plant  includes  a  fine  stone  church,  a  brick  schoolhouse,  five  bungalows  used 
as  classrooms  and  residences,  a  dispensary,  a  good-sized  hospital,  workshops,  and  a 
few  other  buildings.  The  grounds  are  well  kept  and  well  laid  out.  The  problem  of 
water  at  this  station  is  somewhat  serious  at  present.  The  station  has  to  depend  on 
galvanized  tanks  and  rain  water.  This,  with  the  very  dry  seasons,  handicaps  all 
agricultural  work.  The  stafP  numbers  14,  including  those  on  furlough.  The  station 
maintains  a  boys'  and  girls'  boarding  school.  The  classroom  instruction  is  well 
handled.  The  manual  training  equipment  is  fairly  adequate,  but  at  present  is  not  in 
use  owing  to  a  lack  of  teachers.  The  school  plans  to  provide  instruction  in  Portu- 
guese and  to  relate  its  activities  to  the  Portuguese  colony.  The  station  has  61  village 
schools  and  extensive  health  work.  The  hospital  has  36  beds  and  in  1919  gave  almost 
11,000  dispensary  treatments. 


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237 


Kibokolo  Station 

The  Kibokolo  station,  established  in  1899,  is  about  six  days'  road  journey  from 
San  Salvador  and  five  days  from  Kinipesi  in  Congo  Beige.  It  is  3,200  feet  above  sea 
level  and  climatically  has  great  possibilities.  There  has  been  some  agricultural 
work  done  here,  but  more  intensive  work  is  needed.  There  are  six  European  workers 
connected  with  this  station.  The  plant  consists  of  three  missionary  houses  with 
gardens  for  flowers  and  vegetables  of  many  kinds,  a  store,  a  chapel,  a  dispensary 
with  sixteen  beds,  boys'  and  girls'  dormitories.  There  are  many  trees  on  the  station 
compound  and  a  clear  stream  near  by.  Most  of  the  buildings  are  of  wattle  and  thatch. 
There  are  60  boys  and  24  girls  in  residence.  Some  of  the  school  exercises  are  carried 
on  together.  The  instruction  is  very  simple  and  in  the  vernacular — reading,  writing, 
arithmetic — with  some  geography  and  physiology.  The  girls  are  taught  needlework. 
Some  Portuguese  is  taught  in  the  upper  grades.  The  station  had  50  outstations  in 
1919,  but  the  work  is  not  extensive  in  any  of  them  and  not  well  established  as  yet. 

American  Methodist  Missionary  Society 

The  American  Methodist  Episcopal  Foreign  Missionary  Society  has  maintained 
some  work  in  the  Loanda  section  since  1885.  Bishop  Taylor,  who  began  the  work 
at  that  time,  selected  Loanda  as  the  location  on  the  basis  of  facts  he  obtained  from 
a  German  expedition  which  went  inland  from  Loanda  to  the  Congo.  Bishop  Taylor's 
work  was  planned  on  the  self-supporting  basis,  with  what  assistance  could  be  secured 
from  home.  Under  Bishop  Hartzell  and  Bishop  Johnson  the  work  was  given  over  to 
the  care  of  the  American  Methodist  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  which  now  provides 
for  its  support.  Funds  for  any  large  development  of  the  work  were  not  available 
until  the  recent  Centenary  Movement,  and  the  chaotic  condition  of  travel  and  other 
difficulties  resulting  from  the  Great  War  further  delayed  the  realization  of  the  excellent 
plans  which  the  Board  is  now  pushing  vigorously.  This  plan  includes  well-equipped 
educational  activities  of  industrial  and  agricultural  type  with  emphasis  on  the  train- 
ing of  Native  teachers  to  care  for  the  outstation  schools.  Even  the  exigencies  of 
the  war  could  not  prevent  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  a  language  spoken  by  a 
large  Native  population.  This  work  was  done  by  one  of  the  Methodist  missionaries 
widely  recognized  for  his  knowledge  of  Native  peoples.  At  present  the  Methodist 
stations  are  along  the  railway  line  from  Loanda  to  Malange.  It  is  hoped  eventually 
to  work  toward  the  Katanga  section  of  the  Congo,  where  the  Methodists  are  now 
established.  This  is  an  admirable  plan  which  requires  statesmanship,  consecrated  men 
and  women,  and  the  liberal  support  of  the  Home  Board. 

Loanda  District 

The  Loanda  Station  is  the  coast  base  for  the  mission  activities  in  Angola.  The 
mission  maintains  educational  work  in  Loanda,  and  outstations  in  the  country  imme- 
diately back  of  the  city.  The  Loanda  City  School  has  an  attendance  of  150  boys  and 
girls,  the  majority  of  whom  are  mulattoes,  with  a  few  white  pupils  and  a  few  Natives. 


238 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


The  character  of  the  work  has  been  determined  almost  entirely  by  the  desire  to  pre- 
pare the  pupils  to  pass  the  Portuguese  examinations.  There  is  a  strong  emphasis  on 
the  Portuguese  language,  history,  geography,  metric  system,  and  decimals,  but  little 
stress  on  general  knowledge  or  the  geography  of  Africa.  The  instruction  covers  eight 
grades.  The  Portuguese  examinations  are  of  two  kinds.  One  requires  about  the 
equivalent  of  the  American  fourth  or  fifth  grade,  and  the  other  the  equivalent  of  the 
eighth  grade.  The  girls  receive  limited  instruction  in  sewing  and  laundry.  The 
teaching  force  consists  of  three  white  workers  and  two  Native  women,  with  three  Na- 
tive workers  in  training.  In  addition  to  this  school,  the  Methodists  maintain  two 
day  schools  in  Loanda,  taught  by  Native  women,  and  a  night  school  for  adults  which 
is  held  one  or  two  nights  a  week.  It  would  seem  that  the  sound  development  of  the 
Loanda  School  is  in  the  direction  of  training  for  industrial  and  commercial  activities. 
The  proximity  of  this  school  to  the  Portuguese  city  and  its  commercial  and  industrial 
concerns  suggests  helpful  cooperation  in  this  type  of  education  for  Native  youth. 

Lubolo  District 

The  central  institution  of  the  Lubolo  District  is  at  Quionqua,  about  150  miles 
inland,  40  miles  from  the  railroad.  There  are  12  small  outstation  day  schools.  The 
work  was  begun  about  twenty-five  years  ago  and  the  building  at  Quionqua  was 
erected  by  Native  boys  working  under  the  apprentice  system.  There  were  but  two 
boys  at  the  beginning,  but  the  number  gradually  increased.  Later  classes  for  girls  were 
added.  At  present  there  are  140  pupils  in  all.  By  the  original  plan  classes  for  formal 
instruction  were  arranged  for  a  half  day,  to  be  continued  through  three  grades.  The 
teaching  of  Portuguese  was  added.  Then  an  attempt  was  made  to  organize  a  training 
school  for  teachers.  This  was  not  successful.  At  present  an  annual  institute  of  about 
two  weeks  is  held  for  the  training  of  teachers.  The  classroom  work  has  been  most 
irregular  because  of  the  lack  of  workers.  The  station  is  now  more  adequately  staffed 
with  six  white  workers,  and  there  is  evidence  of  growth.  The  plant  consists  of  1,000 
acres  of  land,  one  main  residence,  two  stories  in  height,  with  stone  basement  and  adobe 
walls,  three  residence  cottages,  a  church,  a  one-room  school,  a  boys'  dormitory  for 
sixty  boys  and  another  dormitory  for  sixty  girls,  a  small  workshop  with  benches  and 
tools  for  five  persons,  a  saw-mill  with  gasoline  power,  a  tractor  for  farm  work,  and  a 
Ford  automobile.  The  plant  is  being  increased,  the  roads  extended,  and  a  small  herd  of 
100  cattle  has  been  recently  acquired.  Butter  is  being  produced  and  vegetables  neces- 
sary for  the  station  are  being  raised  on  seventy-two  acres  which  the  boys  cultivate. 
The  report  of  the  Methodist  Foreign  Missionary  Society  for  1920,  in  describing  this 
station,  quotes  from  a  letter  from  the  field,  which  says : 

We  are  passing  through  a  strange  period  of  unrest  among  the  people.  There  is  much  migration  from  the 
country  about  us.  .  .  .  The  severe  draft  by  the  government  on  the  young  and  strong  for  plantation  and 
road  work  that  ought  to  be  done  by  machinery  has  an  evil  appearance  and  an  effect  that  is  ruining  the  country. 

Malange  District 

The  central  station  of  the  Malange  District  is  at  Malange,  the  head  of  the  Loanda 
Railroad  and  the  government  headquarters  of  the  district.   The  station  comprises  a 


ANGOLA 


289 


few  residences,  a  school,  and  a  printing  plant  where  the  printing  for  the  Angola  Metho- 
dist Mission  is  done.  Plans  are  under  way  for  building  a  church  and  a  day  school  and 
for  increasing  the  printing  facilities.  The  largest  school  of  the  district  is  at  Quessua, 
about  six  miles  from  Malange.  The  station  has  a  concession  of  7,500  acres.  The  school 
includes  boarding  facilities  for  boys  and  girls.  The  instruction  covers  four  grades. 
The  station  is  now  well  staffed  with  six  white  workers  and  one  American  Negro. 
Plans  for  the  future  involve  special  provision  for  agricultural  and  industrial  training. 
At  present  the  plant  consists  of  a  church,  three  residences  of  adobe  walls  with  stone 
basement  and  corrugated  iron  roofs, a  small  building  for  a  shop,  and  sheds  for  cows.  The 
station  has  a  small  herd  of  cattle.  The  district  includes  a  number  of  small  bush  schools. 

American  Congregational  Missions 
The  Canadian  and  American  Congregational  Churches  unite  to  support  mission 
work  in  Angola.  The  American  Board  began  its  work  about  1882  in  the  highlands 
of  the  interior,  immediately  east  of  Lobito  Bay.  The  highlands  occupied  by  their 
missions  are  widely  recognized  for  fertility  of  soil,  suitability  for  stock-raising,  water- 
power,  favorable  climate,  and  a  large  Native  population  of  uniform  language  and 
marked  susceptibility  to  the  influences  of  civilization.  The  mission  includes  six 
stations  with  strong  educational  work  at  each  and  numerous  branch  schools.  A  not- 
able feature  of  the  general  organization  is  the  agreement  on  the  part  of  all  the  stations 
to  send  advanced  pupils  to  the  one  higher-grade  institution  at  Dondi.  The  station 
boarding  institutions  are  regarded  as  the  middle  schools  to  which  the  many  outsta- 
tions  send  their  pupils.  The  three  grades  represented  by  these  schools  are  approxi- 
mately three  years  of  training  at  the  190  outstation  schools.  From  these  selected  pupils 
are  advanced  to  the  six  station  schools,  where  they  receive  an  additional  three  years. 
From  these  again  a  further  selection  is  made  for  advanced  training  at  the  two  training 
institutions  at  Dondi,  where  the  course  provides  five  years  of  instruction  for  the  boys 
and  four  for  the  girls.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  mission  has  been  able  to  main- 
tain an  attendance  of  girls  practically  equal  to  that  of  the  boys  in  the  outstation  and 
the  station  day  schools.  In  the  boarding  departments  and  training  institutions  the 
proportion  of  girls  is  about  half  that  of  the  boys.  The  system  is  definitely  planned 
to  train  teachers  arid  leaders  for  the  Native  villages.  The  education  for  both  boys  and 
girls  provides  training  in  Native  handicrafts,  cultivation  of  the  soil,  household  activi- 
ties, and  village  recreation.  These  features  are  in  the  three  grades  of  work  from  the 
training  institutions  to  the  outposts.  It  is  the  plan  of  the  mission  to  supervise  the 
outposts  at  regular  intervals.  Unfortunately  this  has  not  been  carried  out  satisfac- 
torily because  of  the  inadequate  staff.  An  important  feature  of  the  whole  work  is  the 
policy  of  extending  the  mission  field  only  after  definite  assurances  have  been  obtained 
of  the  desire  for  the  work  and  the  possibility  of  effecting  the  extension  according  to 
recognized  standards. 

Currie  Institute 

The  work  provided  at  Currie  Institute  is  unique  in  West  Central  Africa.  Currie 
is  probably  the  one  school  that  provides  instruction  of  upper  elementary  and  lower 


240 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


secondary  grade  to  Native  teachers  and  religious  workers  in  all  the  colonies  south  of 
Nigeria  and  north  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa.  Students  are  admitted  after  com- 
pleting six  years  in  the  outpost  and  station  schools.  The  course  covers  five  years. 
The  classroom  subjects  include:  Arithmetic;  physiology  and  hygiene;  Native  language; 
Portuguese;  history  of  Portugal;  pedagogy;  drawing;  singing;  agriculture;  religious 
training,  including  theology,  Gospels,  Life  of  Christ,  and  sermon-making.  The 
pupils  are  required  to  engage  in  practice  teaching  for  definite  periods.  Extensive 
volunteer  service  in  religious  and  neighborhood  work  is  provided.  There  is  also 
ample  provision  for  training  in  handwork  and  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  The  morn- 
ings are  spent  in  classroom  instruction  and  the  afternoons  in  trades  or  agriculture. 
The  trades  include  brick  and  tile-making,  masonry,  carpentry,  road-making,  and  tailor- 
ing. During  the  first  three  years  every  boy  must  go  the  rounds  of  the  trades.  For 
the  last  two  years  he  is  expected  to  specialize  in  some  one  trade.  Farming  is  regarded 
as  one  of  the  industries,  every  student  receiving  some  training  on  the  land,  with  cattle, 
dairying,  and  the  use  of  farm  machinery.  The  school  appreciates  the  fundamental 
importance  of  every  form  of  agriculture,  including  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  care  and 
use  of  animals,  fruit-raising,  and  forestry. 

The  staff  consists  of  nine  American  and  European  workers,  of  whom  five  are  men 
and  four  women.  They  are  assisted  by  seven  Native  workers.  The  training  classes 
enroll  61  boys,  all  of  whom  are  boarders.  The  Canadian  churches  have  raised  a  fund 
of  $75,000  for  plant  and  equipment.  The  buildings  already  erected  are  three  resi- 
dences of  burnt  brick  and  tile  for  missionaries;  one  two-story  dormitory  and  two  smaller 
dormitories  of  sun-dried  brick;  one  large  schoolhouse  with  three  rooms,  two  fitted 
with  modern  desks  and  wall  blackboards  and  the  third  used  for  religious  services 
and  as  an  assembly  hall;  a  carpentry  shop  with  twelve  benches;  a  blacksmith  shop; 
storehouses;  residences  for  Native  workers.  The  large  trades  building  is  nearing  com- 
pletion. Provision  has  been  made  for  an  electrical  plant  for  lighting  and  power,  also 
for  an  agricultural  building  and  equipment  to  cost  $8,000.  The  school  owns  thirty 
oxen  trained  to  work,  two  wagons,  and  a  cart.  There  is  a  herd  of  twenty  cows,  some 
sheep,  pigs,  and  chickens.  There  is  considerable  equipment  for  industrial,  agricul- 
tural, and  other  activities.  The  farm,  which  includes  twenty-five  acres  under  culti- 
vation, produces  corn,  beans,  cassava,  squash,  pumpkins,  white  and  sweet  potatoes,  and 
cabbage,  all  of  which  are  used  in  the  boarding  department.  The  general  work  of  the 
institution,  including  the  erection  of  buildings,  is  done  by  the  students.  The  in- 
adequate and  unsatisfactory  dormitory  facilities  are  now  being  replaced  by  well- 
planned  rooms  with  sanitary  bath  and  toilet  provisions. 

Means  Training  School  for  Girls 

The  Means  School  is  a  training  institution  similar  to  the  Currie  Institute,  but 
with  adaptations  of  education  to  the  needs  of  African  womanhood.  It  is  located  across 
the  river  from  Currie  Institute,  but  conveniently  accessible  by  a  bridge.  The  four 
years'  course  consists  of  simple  lessons  in  reading  and  writing  in  both  the  Native  lan- 
guage and  J*ortuguese,  arithmetic,  Bible,  and  geography.    Much  stress  is  laid  on 


ANGOLA 


241 


personal  cleanliness,  care  of  the  home,  and  care  of  the  children  through  the  lessons  in 
hygiene.  All  the  girls  have  practical  gardening,  sewing,  cooking,  and  laundry  work,  and 
provision  is  also  made  for  practice  teaching  in  a  day  school  for  neighborhood  children 
each  afternoon.  At  present  the  dormitories  are  very  crowded  and  the  officers  are  endeav- 
oring to  arrange  for  an  enlargement  of  the  facilities.  The  staff  consists  of  three  Ameri- 
can women  and  a  number  of  Native  assistants.  The  enrollment  comprises  45  girls,  all 
boarders.  Thirteen  young  women  received  diplomas  in  1920.  The  plant  consists  of  a 
missionary  residence,  a  dormitory,  quarters  for  Native  workers,  and  a  one-room  school- 
house.  The  institution  has  gardening  facilities,  fifty  head  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  chickens. 

Bailundo  Station 

Bailundo  is  the  oldest  station  of  the  mission,  located  forty  miles  from  Dondi,  and 
accessible  by  motor  road.  The  school  is  doing  thorough  work  in  formal  school  subjects 
through  the  sixth  grade  and  in  agriculture  and  industries.  There  are  90  boarding 
pupils — 66  boys,  24  girls  in  the  grades.  Kindergarten  work  is  emphasized  at  this  sta- 
tion and  is  taught  in  a  separate  building.  At  the  time  of  the  visit  there  were  three 
regular  missionaries  at  the  station  and  ten  Native  helpers.  All  the  construction  work 
is  done  by  the  students,  who  have  just  completed  a  new  boys'  dormitory.  The  usual 
subjects  are  well  taught,  including  the  Portuguese  language.  The  dormitories  are 
crowded  and  there  are  no  bathing  or  sanitary  accommodations  for  the  students. 

This  station  has  seventy  outstations  with  seventy  teachers  and  evangelists  and 
about  7,000  pupils.  In  two  outstations  everyone  in  the  village  is  in  school.  The 
children  go  to  school  in  the  morning  and  the  adults  in  the  afternoon.  No  one  is 
received  into  the  church  who  cannot  read  and  write  in  Umbundu.  The  school  work 
covers  three  grades.  After  that  pupils  go  to  Bailundo  for  more  advanced  work. 
Some  of  the  women  in  the  village  were  tested  and  found  to  read  very  creditably. 
Formerly  the  dispensary  work  at  this  station  was  quite  extensive,  but  owing  to  lack 
of  workers  it  is  now  more  limited. 

Chileso  Station 

Chileso  Station  is  now  in  process  of  reorganization,  made  necessary  by  the  tem- 
porary character  of  the  buildings  and  by  the  undesirability  of  some  of  the  sites.  The 
location  is  interesting  for  its  proximity  to  hot  and  cold  mineral  springs  and  great 
deposits  of  iron  ore  formerly  used  by  Native  blacksmiths  in  the  making  of  weapons 
and  simple  implements  for  tilling  the  soil.  There  is  also  an  extensive  deposit  of  lime- 
stone, the  only  known  supply  in  that  part  of  Angola.  The  usual  staff  consists  of  four 
American  workers  and  some  Native  helpers.  The  school  population  consists  of  150 
boarding  pupils,  a  few  day  pupils,  and  some  Native  families  who  assist  in  the  work  of 
the  schools.  There  are  thirty  outstations  with  about  2,000  pupils.  The  course  of 
instruction  here  is  similar  to  that  in  all  the  other  schools  of  this  mission. 

Kamundongo  Station 

Kamundongo  station  is  72  miles  from  Dondi  with  an  automobile  road  connecting. 
It  has  now  been  taken  over  by  the  Canadian  Congregational  Society.  The  station  has 


242 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


suffered  from  lack  of  workers  and  plant.  The  present  plant  consists  of  three  resi- 
dences, a  carpenter  shop,  schoolhouse,  a  church,  and  a  boarding  department.  With 
one  exception,  all  the  buildings  are  of  adobe  with  thatched  roof.  Kamundongo  was  the 
first  of  these  mission  stations  to  develop  a  boarding  school.  In  addition  to  the  boarding 
school,  farming  has  been  carried  on  and  good  results  have  been  obtained  in  spite  of 
the  exhaustion  of  the  soil  through  long  cultivation  by  Native  methods.  Twenty-five 
acres  are  under  cultivation.  In  the  bottom  lands  rice  and  wheat  have  been  culti- 
vated. Attention  has  been  given  to  fruit-raising,  which  has  been  successful.  The  mis- 
sion orange  grove  is  one  of  the  best  in  tropical  Africa.  Here  also  much  use  has  been 
made  of  cattle  for  ploughing  and  hauling  and  for  dairy  purposes.  The  mission  printing 
press  is  located  at  this  station.  Large  numbers  of  pamphlets  and  books  have  been 
printed  here.  Eight  to  ten  boys  are  used  in  this  work.  They  acquire  skill  not  simply 
in  the  printing  processes  but  in  allied  processes,  such  as  glue-making  from  local  material. 

The  staff  consists  of  four  American  workers,  two  men  and  two  women.  The  total 
attendance  is  about  150  pupils,  of  whom  about  a  hundred  are  boarders.  The  class- 
room instruction  follows  the  course  used  in  all  the  boarding  schools  of  the  mission. 
Agricultural  work  has  the  place  of  first  importance.  All  of  the  boys  and  girls  are  re- 
quired to  give  some  hours  each  day  to  field  and  garden  work  and  the  handling  of  cattle. 
They  are  taught  rotation  of  crops,  fertilization,  dry  farming,  brook  gardening,  and  irri- 
gation. Demonstration  farm  plats  are  used  for  community  and  experimental  pur- 
poses.  Tree  growing  is  also  taught  and  includes  both  fruit  and  shade  trees. 

Next  to  training  in  agriculture,  the  station  emphasizes  stock-raising.  The  school 
maintains  a  herd  of  sixty  cattle  and  a  number  of  hogs.  Stock-breeding  is  taught. 
Sheep  and  goats  are  put  in  charge  of  Natives  at  different  villages,  as  there  are  no  feed- 
ing grounds  at  the  station.   There  is  also  instruction  in  poultry  raising. 

In  the  industries,  carpentry,  basketry,  wicker-work,  and  tailoring  are  taught. 
The  medical  work  at  this  station  has  exerted  much  influence  on  the  neighborhood. 
An  extensive  dispensary  and  limited  hospital  services  are  maintained  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  resident  physician.  There  are  25  outstations  with  about  1,500  pupils. 

Chisamba  Station 

Chisamba  Station,  founded  in  1887,  is  about  ninety  miles  from  Dondi  by  auto- 
mobile road.  The  work  has  been  liberally  supported  by  the  Canadian  Board.  There 
are  eight  Canadian  missionaries  and  about  thirty  Native  workers.  There  are  two 
boarding  schools,  one  for  boys  and  one  for  girls,  with  a  hundred  pupils  in  each,  and  a 
day  school  of  about  600  pupils.  There  is  also  a  compound  for  older  Christian  Native 
girls  who  have  come  to  the  school  to  avoid  various  difficulties  in  their  Native  villages. 
These  receive  practical  instruction  in  household  work  and  gardening.  The  regular 
course  follows  the  usual  curriculum  of  the  mission.  The  industrial  work  is  highly  devel- 
oped, especially  that  in  carpentry.  The  agricultural  work  is  effective.  The  Native 
gardens  at  Chisamba  are  among  the  best  in  the  country.  The  plant  consists  of  three 
residences,  one  hospital,  two  boarding  schools,  two  schoolhouses,  one  church  seating 
1,000  and  built  entirely  at  Native  expense,  a  blacksmith  shop,  and  a  carpenter  shop. 


ANGOLA 


243 


The  buildings  are  of  sun-dried  brick  with  tile  roofs.  This  station  has  over  45  outstations 
with  over  4,000  pupils  in  attendance.  The  population  of  the  district  is  very  dense, 
making  supervision  relatively  easy. 

One  of  the  Christian  chiefs  in  this  district  is  notable  for  his  great  influence  on  the 
life  of  the  people.  His  own  residence,  constructed  by  pupils  trained  at  Dondi,  is  an 
impressive  structure  of  nine  rooms.  In  the  same  community  a  former  chief  erected  a 
large  church. 

Sachikela  Station 

Sachikela  Station,  organized  about  fifteen  years  ago,  is  about  120  miles  from 
Dondi  in  the  general  direction  of  Lobito.  The  staff  consists  of  five  missionaries  and  fif- 
teen Native  workers.  The  physician  of  the  station  maintains  an  important  medical 
service.  There  are  about  250  boarding  pupils,  with  a  large  proportion  of  girls.  The 
course  of  study  follows  the  usual  curriculum  of  the  mission.  The  school  is  very 
successful  in  its  teaching  of  agriculture.  Natives  have  been  taught  to  farm  so  success- 
fully that  the  station  is  said  to  produce  the  best  maize  and  pineapples  in  the  country. 
A  great  variety  of  fruits  and  vegetables  are  grown,  including  coffee,  beans,  potatoes, 
both  white  and  sweet,  as  well  as  other  vegetables.  There  are  also  a  variety  of  animals, 
such  as  cows,  sheep,  pigs,  rabbits,  turkeys,  and  geese. 

Plymouth  Brethren  Mission 

The  Plymouth  Brethren  Mission  is  a  British  organization  which  began  operations 
in  1883.  It  maintains  an  important  work  in  the  region  near  that  of  the  American 
Congregationalists.  For  a  long  time  its  only  effort  was  that  of  evangelization,  in  which 
it  has  been  remarkably  successful.  The  missionaries  in  most  cases  have  come  from 
England  and  Canada,  with  a  few  from  the  United  States.  Many  of  the  workers  have 
been  well  equipped  in  agricultiu-e  and  the  influence  of  this  has  been  felt  through  all  of 
their  station  work.  Crops  of  maize,  rice,  wheat,  and  tree  culture  have  received  much 
attention.  The  school  work  has  been  only  recently  developed  and  is  very  elementary. 
The  instruction  in  all  the  schools  consists  of  religion,  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic 
through  simple  division.  The  instruction  is  in  the  vernacular,  but  recently,  in  accord 
with  government  regulations,  lessons  in  Portuguese  have  been  started.  The  textbooks 
are  almost  exclusively  Scriptiu-al.  The  stations  are  Chilonda,  Haulonda,  Kapango, 
with  about  fifty  outstations  linked  up  by  roads  of  their  own  construction.  Four  other 
stations  are  in  the  interior  among  the  Va  Chibokwe.  The  missionaries  own  their  own 
houses.  The  very  simple  general  buildings  of  the  mission  are  held  in  trust  by  a  group  of 
interested  people  in  England. 

Chilonda  Station — Chilonda  is  the  oldest  station  of  the  "English  Mission."  The 
school  was  closed  during  the  visit  of  the  Commission  because  the  pupils  had  been 
ordered  out  by  the  government  to  work  the  road.  This  is  not  a  boarding  school, 
but  there  is  a  compound,  a  refuge  into  which  girls  are  shut  each  night  for  protection. 
The  girls  board  themselves.  It  has  been  the  custom  to  assemble  the  outstation  teach- 
ers at  Chilonda.  The  school  has  three  European  and  two  Native  workers,  and  ninety 


244 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


pupils.  Cleanliness  is  taught,  but  there  are  no  specific  lessons  in  hygiene.  The  school 
has  an  excellent  orchard  with  sixteen  varieties  of  fruit,  and  in  addition  there  are  nine 
varieties  of  ornamental  trees  on  the  premises.  The  station  raises  a  profusion  of 
flowers  and  a  large  variety  of  vegetables. 

i.^v  Kapango  Station — Kapango  Station  is  about  thirty  miles  from  the  nearest  station  of 
the  American  Board  Mission.  It  is  in  a  populous  district,on  a  selected  site  in  the  woods. 
The  grounds  have  been  carefully  laid  out  in  accordance  with  principles  of  sanitation 
and  with  a  view  to  landscape  effects.  The  arrangement  of  buildings,  trees,  and  streets 
is  unusually  attractive  and  reflects  credit  upon  the  designer.  There  is  provision  not 
only  for  the  residences  of  the  missionaries  and  the  school  buildings,  but  also  for  a 
Native  village  located  nearby.  This  village  is  provided  with  space  for  fruit  trees, 
gardens,  and  recreation  grounds.  Homes  for  carefully  selected  married  Natives  have 
been  provided.  Each  house  is  commodious  in  size,  with  a  separate  kitchen  constructed 
of  sun-dried  brick,  and  allowing  for  ventilation.  The  homes  are  separated  by  brick 
walls. 

Everywhere  the  streets  and  avenues  are  made  beautiful  with  eucalyptus  trees. 
The  village  has  grown  rapidly  and  the  influence  of  the  whole  station  has  extended  over 
large  areas.  The  school  work  consists  chiefly  of  instruction  in  reading,  with  some  atten- 
tion to  writing  and  arithmetic.  The  school  sessions  are  short,  most  of  the  day  being 
spent  by  the  Natives  on  their  own  work.  The  men  have  special  instruction  in  the 
Bible  and  the  more  capable  ones  are  selected  and  sent  out  as  outstation  teachers  and 
preachers.  The  Natives  receive  some  training  in  the  gardens  and  carpenter  shop 
maintained  for  mission  purposes.  The  usual  staff  consists  of  four  missionaries.  There 
is  need  for  more  workers  to  meet  the  growing  educational  demands  of  the  people. 

Haulonda  Station — Haulonda  Station  is  located  about  eight  miles  from  Chilonda 
and  maintains  a  similar  type  of  work.  Its  staflF  includes  a  very  successful  colored 
worker  and  his  wife  from  British  Guiana. 

South  African  General  Mission 

The  South  African  General  Mission  was  started  in  1918  in  the  Mossamedes  section 
of  Southern  Angola.  The  financial  support  and  the  workers  come  from  America, 
Canada,  England,  and  South  Africa.  The  missionaries  are  studying  the  language 
and  producing  textbooks  in  the  vernacular.  The  American  Congregational  Mission 
is  cooperating  with  the  General  Mission  and  rendering  assistance  in  printing  and  in 
supplying  Native  assistants. 

The  Swiss  Mission 

The  Swiss  Mission  is  an  independent  mission  founded  by  a  native  of  Switzerland 
who  attempted  to  maintain  his  work  through  agricultural  activities  on  the  mission 
field.  This  plan  has  proved  impractical,  but  great  emphasis  is  still  given  to  agri- 
culture as  a  basis  of  support.  There  are  three  European  missionaries  and  a  few  Native 
teachers.  The  enrollment  consists  of  23  boys  and  23  girls.  The  instruction  includes 
elementary  subjects,  Portuguese,  and  handicrafts. 


ANGOLA 


245 


III.    SUMMARY  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

The  Education  Commission  is  convinced  that  provision  for  the  industrial,  hy- 
gienic, and  character  development  of  the  Natives  would  result  in  greater  economic 
and  colonial  gains  to  Angola  than  to  any  other  colony  visited  in  Africa.  This  conviction 
is  based  upon  the  facts  presented  in  Part  I  of  this  chapter,  which  indicate  the  immense 
resources  of  soil,  minerals,  and  water-power,  the  favorable  climate,  and  a  Native  popu- 
lation capable  of  training.  Nowhere  else  in  Africa  has  the  Commission  observed  this 
remarkable  combination  of  the  essential  elements  of  progress.  The  fundamental 
error  is  the  failure  to  make  adequate  provision  for  the  full  development  of  the  Native 
so  that  he  may  participate  intelligently  and  effectively  in  the  life  of  the  colony.  The 
wealth  of  resources  will  ever  depend  upon  an  adequate  supply  of  labor.  With  mechan- 
ical skill  and  ability  to  direct  industrial  operations  the  masses  of  the  people  will  always 
depend  upon  an  honest  leadership  of  their  own  group.  There  must  be  Native  teachers 
and  leaders  who  can  direct  their  people  so  that  they  may  be  healthy  of  body  and  of 
sound  character.  All  this,  of  course,  presupposes  an  attitude  on  the  part  of  govern- 
ment and  commercial  concerns  of  full  understanding  and  belief  in  the  conservation 
of  the  masses  of  the  people  and  their  systematic  development  along  the  lines  of  health, 
industry,  helpful  recreation,  and  sound  character.  Without  these  fundamental  atti- 
tudes on  the  part  of  those  who  control  the  extension  of  railroads  and  roads,  the  organi- 
zation of  industrial  concerns  and  the  educational  services  of  missions  will  be  of  little 
avail. 

The  types  of  educational  work  observed  in  various  parts  of  the  colony  compare 
very  favorably  with  the  best  that  have  been  observed  in  other  parts  of  Africa.  Part  II 
of  the  chapter  described  briefly  the  many  years  of  devoted,  effective  service  that  have 
been  given  by  men  and  women  of  ability  from  Europe  and  America.  The  Portuguese 
Government  is  extremely  fortunate  in  the  type  of  missionary  workers  who  have  come 
to  assist  them  in  preparing  the  Native  people  to  build  up  Angola.  These  missionaries 
have  worked  with  all  possible  loyalty  to  the  government  in  control.  Many  of  the 
government  oflBcials  have  welcomed  the  missionaries  and  given  them  cordial  support. 
There  have  been  occasions,  all  too  frequent,  when  some  government  officials  have  been 
actively  hostile  to  mission  efforts  or  have  given  support  to  labor  policies  that  make 
it  impossible  to  maintain  effective  educational  work.  Conditions  have  been  permitted 
to  exist  which  discourage  educational  efforts  for  the  economic  and  hygienic  develop- 
ment of  the  colony.  Such  attitudes  are  clearly  contrary  to  the  best  interests  of  Portugal 
and  its  great  African  colony,  for  it  is  certain  that  without  the  loyal  aid  of  missionaries 
from  other  parts  of  Em-ope  and  from  America  the  hygienic  and  educational  needs  of 
the  Natives  cannot  be  adequately  provided  for.  Fortunately  the  European  colonial 
powers  are  recognizing  this  need  and  are  welcoming  educational  missions  from  every 
part  of  the  world. 

The  following  recommendations  are  based  upon  the  facts  already  given  in  this 
chapter,  and  upon  the  recognized  international  policies  of  colonization: 

1.    That  the  government  appoint  a  commission  to  consider  the  needs  of  the 


246 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Native  people  of  Angola,  resembling  in  organization  and  purpose  the  well-known 
commission  appointed  by  the  King  of  Belgium.  The  members  of  the  commission 
should  represent  not  only  the  government,  but  commercial  concerns  and  missionary 
organizations  engaged  in  educational  work  for  the  Natives. 

2.  That  government  provisions  in  behalf  of  the  Natives  have  regard  for  their 
health,  their  language,  the  best  of  their  Native  customs,  their  family  and  village 
life,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  their  tribal  authority.  Such  regard  is  preliminary  to  all 
efforts  for  the  improvement  of  the  Natives.  It  emphatically  precludes  forced  labor 
and  the  unnecessary  disruption  of  family  and  village  life.  Recent  enactments  of  the 
League  of  Nations  and  the  British  Government  in  Kenya  Colony  are  specific  indica- 
tions of  international  attitudes  on  these  matters. 

3.  That  the  educational  decree,  recently  issued  by  the  High  Commissioner, 
Senhor  Norton  de  Matos  (Decree  77  of  December,  1921)  be  made  effective  with 
the  exception  of  the  provision  which  limits  the  use  of  the  Native  languages.  While 
the  missionary  organizations  must  do  everything  in  their  power  to  teach  the  Portu- 
guese language  as  the  most  important  European  tongue  for  Angola,  international 
policy  requires  the  recognition  of  the  Native  languages  as  an  essential  element  of  Native 
life.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  the  minute  regulation  of  missionary  activities  may  eas- 
ily be  used  by  petty  oflBcials  to  persecute  Natives  and  seriously  discourage  missionaries. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  statesmanship  of  the  High  Commissioner  will  eliminate  these 
unfortunate  possibilities.  They  are  rhentioned  because  the  African  Education  Com- 
mission has  seen  similar  regulations  used  in  other  colonies  to  the  serious  disadvantage 
of  educational  work. 

4.  That  the  government  and  missions  clearly  distinguish  the  chief  educational 
need,  namely,  the  education  of  the  masses  of  the  people.  The  education  of  the  masses 
and  their  teachers  should  be  determined  by  the  following  elements:  Health,  ability 
to  develop  the  resources  of  the  country,  household  arts,  sound  recreation,  rudiments 
of  knowledge,  character  development,  community  responsibility.  The  Native  teachers 
should  also  have  access  to  the  great  truths  of  physical  and  social  science,  and  the 
inspiration  of  history  and  literature.  The  need  for  the  training  of  mechanical  and 
clerical  workers  for  the  government  and  large  commercial  concerns  should  be  met. 
It  is  clear,  however,  that  this  need  is  secondary  to  that  of  fitting  the  masses  of  the 
Natives  to  improve  their  village  communities  and  make  better  use  of  the  agricultural 
resources  of  the  country. 

5.  That  the  government  provide  for  the  agricultural  instruction  of  the  masses 
of  the  people  through  agricultural  stations  and  traveling  demonstrators,  and  also 
that  provision  be  made  for  the  teaching  of  sanitation  and  hygiene  through  schools 
and  government  posts.  To  these  ends  the  government  should  recognize  the  effective 
services  of  mission  physicians  and  mission  teachers  of  agriculture.  Such  recognition 
has  been  of  the  greatest  value  in  other  colonies  with  an  inadequate  personnel  in  these 
important  governmental  departments.  Government  schools  and  mission  stations 
could  render  great  service  by  preparing  Native  medical  assistants  through  a  course  in 
elementary  hygiene,  first  aid,  and  use  of  simple  remedies. 


ANGOLA 


247 


6.  That  the  missions  provide  a  system  requiring  a  central  teacher-training  school 
with  boarding  i)upils,  community  center  schools  with  some  boarding  facilities,  local 
day  schools  with  effective  activities  in  the  communities,  and  traveling  supervisors 
to  direct,  advise,  and  inspire  local  teachers.  The  missions  may  arrange  for  such  a 
system  through  cooperation  with  other  missions  if  their  own  facilities  are  not  ade- 
quate. Special  emphasis  should  be  given  to  the  importance  of  adequate  supervision 
of  outstation  schools.  It  is  clearly  wasteful  to  send  out  young  Native  teachers  to 
deal  with  the  difficulties  of  local  areas  without  the  frequent  guidance  and  inspiration 
of  missionaries  from  the  home  station. 

7.  That  the  missions  have  definite  regard  for  the  community  influence  of  station 
and  outstation  schools,  especially  as  regards  health  and  sanitation,  home  and  village 
improvement,  effective  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  raising  of  stock.  This  requires 
the  recognition  of  these  activities  in  the  regular  instruction  given  at  the  schools  as 
well  as  in  the  general  life  of  the  boarding  schools.  A  frequent  oversight  has  been  the 
failure  to  recognize  the  educational  possibilities  in  connection  with  provisions  for  eat- 
ing and  sleeping  at  the  station  institutions. 

8.  That  the  missions  increase  their  staff  and  equipment.  They  need  particularly 
agricultural  and  industrial  speciahsts,  with  equipment  in  their  respective  lines,  and 
physicians,  with  adequate  hospital  and  cUnical  facilities. 

9.  That  mission  boards  provide  for  educational,  social,  and  religious  work  in 
coast  cities  like  Loanda,  Lobito,  and  Mossamedes.  The  neighborhood  work  of  the 
coast  towns  should  provide  for  activities  such  as  city  missions,  social  settlements, 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations. 
Special  provision  should  be  made  for  the  improvement  of  health  and  recreation. 

10.  That  adequate  provision  be  made  in  all  schools  for  the  training  of  women  and 
girls  in  home  life  and  the  care  of  infants. 


Chapter  XI 


BELGIAN  CONGO 

Educational  development  in  the  Belgian  Congo  is  probably  a  more  difficult  task 
than  in  any  of  the  other  areas  visited.  The  primitive  character  of  the  people,  the 
torrid  heat,  and  the  vast  areas  are  hindrances  to  educational  and  religious  endeavors 
that  have  tried  the  devotion  of  many  Christian  missionaries.  The  heroism  of  the  men 
and  women  from  Europe  and  America  who  have  endured  the  heat,  the  diseases,  and 
other  difficulties  for  the  sake  of  the  Native  peoples,  commands  the  appreciation  of  all 
who  are  interested  in  Africa.  Though  the  educational  facilities  are  most  meager  in 
comparison  with  the  great  need,  the  success  of  the  mission  schools  is  a  guarantee  of 
the  improvability  of  the  Native  people.  The  friendly  interest  of  the  Belgian  Govern- 
ment in  all  agencies  for  the  welfare  of  the  Natives,  the  resources  of  soil  and  minerals, 
and  the  extensive  plateaus  with  agreeable  climates,  form  the  basis  of  the  hope  for  the 
future  development  of  the  colony  and  the  people.  Part  I  of  this  chapter  presents 
the  economic  and  sociological  backgrounds  of  education  in  a  brief  outline  of  facts 
concerning  the  country,  people,  and  the  European  organization  in  the  colony.  Part  II 
describes  the  educational  facilities.  Part  III  contains  the  summary  and  recommend- 
ations. 

I.    ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIOLOGICAL  BACKGROUND 

Belgian  Congo  is  the  vast  inland  colony  of  Central  Africa.  Its  area  of  910,000 
square  miles  is  eighty  times  that  of  Belgium,  ten  times  that  of  Great  Britain,  and  al- 
most one-third  that  of  the  United  States  of  America.  The  outstanding  physical 
feature  is  the  great  Congo  River  and  its  numerous  tributaries  with  ten  thousand  miles 
of  navigable  waters  penetrating  most  of  the  important  sections  of  the  colony.  The 
Native  population  is  variously  estimated  at  9,000,000  to  11,000,000  people,  practically 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Negroes  in  the  United  States.  The  European  population 
in  1921  was  8,175,  of  whom  about  one-half  are  government  officials,  merchants,  and 
mechanics  from  Belgium. 

The  government  has  divided  the  colony  into  four  provinces,  nearly  equal  in  size, 
corresponding  roughly  to  the  differing  physical  characteristics  of  the  country.  These 
provinces  are  subdivided  into  districts  for  administrative  purposes.  The  four  prov- 
inces and  their  principal  characteristics  are  indicated  herewith : 

1.  The  Congo-Kasai  Province  is  the  western  section  of  the  colony.  It  has  a  population  of  a  million 
and  a  half  and  is  somewhat  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  square  miles  in  area.  The  territory  is  drained  by 
the  Kasai  River,  the  south  branch  of  the  Congo,  and  by  the  lower  part  of  the  Congo  River. 

2.  The  Equatorial  Province  is  the  north  central  section  of  the  colony,  with  a  population  of  a  million 
and  a  third  Natives  and  fully  a  quarter  million  of  square  miles  in  area.  It  is  drained  by  the  Ubangi  River, 
a  northern  branch  of  the  Congo  and  the  Lulonga  River,  a  southern  branch. 

3.  The  Eastern  Province  occupies  the  northeastern  section  of  the  colony.  It  has  a  population  of  three 
million  Natives  and  an  area  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  square  miles. 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


249 


4.  The  Katanga  Province  is  the  southeastern  section  of  the  colony  with  a  poj)iilation  variously  esti- 
mated from  a  million  and  a  half  to  three  million  people,  and  an  area  of  228,000  square  miles. 

THE  The  central  area  of  the  great  Congo  colony  is  comparatively  low,  with 

COUNTRY  a  general  altitude  of  approximately  1,000  feet.  This  section,  probably  a 
third  of  the  total  area  of  the  colony,  is  encompassed  by  the  Congo  River 
on  the  east,  north,  and  west.  According  to  geological  reports  the  river  basin  was  a 
great  inland  sea  surrounded  by  the  highlands  now  forming  the  northern  banks  of  the 
Congo  River.  The  region  is  drained  by  many  rivers  and  streams.  Much  of  the 
country  is  swampy  and  several  lakes  of  considerable  size  still  remain.  The  soil  of  the 
river  valleys  is  fertile,  producing  tropical  vegetation  and  fruit  in  great  variety.  In 
view  of  the  origin  of  this  inner  basin  there  is  a  surprisingly  large  proportion  of  land  fit 
for  human  occupation  and  cultivation. 

Around  this  inner  basin  there  is  a  system  of  plateaus  ranging  in  height  from  3,000 
to  6,000  feet.  The  best  known  of  these  plateaus  is  that  of  the  Katanga  in  the  south- 
eastern section  of  the  colony.  This  plateau  is  well  known  for  its  wealth  of  minerals, 
its  agreeable  cKmate,  and  the  fertility  of  much  of  its  soil.  Probably  the  most  extensive 
plateau  of  the  colony  is  in  the  northeastern  section  with  climate  and  fertility  of  soil 
resembling  those  found  in  temperate  zones.  The  remaining  areas  of  plateau  altitudes 
are  in  the  region  of  the  lower  Congo  and  in  the  fairly  wide  fringe  following  the  south- 
western boundary  of  the  colony.  It  is  probable  that  the  plateaus  of  the  Congo  con- 
stitute almost  two-thirds  of  the  total  area  of  the  colony. 

The  river  systems  of  the  Belgian  Congo  are  the  most  extensive  in  all  Africa,  rival- 
ing those  in  any  part  of  the  world.  The  Congo  River  is  the  main  artery  of  the  system 
and  extends  from  the  southeastern  section  in  a  great  curve  a  distance  of  2,500  miles. 
The  Congo  is  navigable  for  ocean  liners  for  93  miles.  This  entrance  is  the  only  con- 
nection of  the  colony  with  the  ocean,  and  the  government  has  developed  Boma  as 
the  political  capital  of  the  colony  on  this  stretch  of  the  river  and  Matadi  as  the  chief 
port  for  ocean  liners  at  the  head  of  navigation.  From  Matadi  to  Kinshasa,  a  point 
inland  about  250  miles,  the  river  is  broken  by  frequent  falls.  From  Kinshasa,  located 
on  Stanley  Pool,  to  Stanleyville,  at  Stanley  Falls,  it  is  navigable  for  a  distance  of  1,000 
miles.  From  this  point  to  the  head  of  navigation  at  Bukama  in  the  southeastern  part 
of  the  colony  navigation  is  broken  at  two  points  which  are  connected  by  railways. 
As  Bukama  is  the  rail  head  of  the  great  railway  system  extending  2,500  miles  south  to 
Cape  Colony,  it  is  possible  to  travel  by  water  and  rail  a  distance  of  5,000  miles  from 
Cape  Town  to  Matadi,  the  point  of  ocean  embarkation  of  the  lower  Congo.  This  re- 
markable inland  artery  of  commerce  is  extended  for  thousands  of  miles  in  various  direc- 
tions by  numerous  large  river  branches,  chief  among  them  being  the  Kasai  River, 
which  reaches  into  the  heart  of  the  Congo  for  a  distance  of  approximately  1,000  miles 
of  navigable  waters,  the  Ubangi,  which  follows  the  northern  boundary  for  many  hun- 
dreds of  miles,  and  the  Lulonga,  while  still  other  branches  are  navigable  for  consider- 
able distances  in  the  equatorial  section.  With  the  progress  of  civilization  this  great 
river  system  is  destined  to  contribute  a  wealth  of  water-power  and  transportation 
facilities,  not  only  to  the  colony,  but  to  the  whole  of  Central  Africa. 


250 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


The  equatorial  location  of  the  colony  has  a  vital  relationship  to  the  health  condi- 
tions. The  colony  extends  from  5  North  to  13  South  latitude,  thus  lying  entirely 
in  the  torrid  zone.  The  heat  is  considerably  modiBed  by  the  high  altitudes  and  by  the 
numerous  waterways  and  extensive  forests,  but  problems  of  health  are  seriously  re- 
tarding the  development  of  the  country  and  of  the  people.  The  great  areas  of  tropical 
wilderness  penetrated  by  numerous  streams  form  almost  perfect  breeding  places  for 
the  tsetse  fly,  the  carrier  of  the  dreaded  germ  of  sleeping  sickness.  This  disease  is  the 
greatest  of  all  obstacles  confronting  the  government  and  all  who  are  interested  in 
the  country.  In  some  sections  the  devastation  from  this  disease  seems  to  be  almost 
insurmountable.  There  are  also  the  usual  diseases  of  tropical  regions,  many  of  which 
give  rise  to  problems  of  sanitation  and  hygiene  almost  beyond  the  medical  skill  and 
financial  resources  of  a  small  country  like  Belgium.  Fortunately,  the  extensive  plateau 
areas  are  largely  free  from  these  diseases.  Even  in  the  low  and  swampy  areas  of  the 
Congo  basin  there  are  considerable  sections  entirely  free  from  the  sleeping  sickness.  It 
seems  probable  that  the  wise  and  effective  exclusion  of  Native  population  from  infected 
areas,  and  the  application  of  medical  skill  may,  in  the  course  of  time,  overcome  the 
ravages  of  even  this  dreaded  disease. 

The  development  of  the  immense  resources  of  the  colony  has  only  been  begun. 
\^Tiile  the  statement  of  exports  is  a  very  unsatisfactory  indication  of  the  resources, 
it  gives  some  idea  of  the  variety  of  products  now  available  for  commerce.  In  1919 
the  principal  exports  were  palm  nuts,  35,000,000  kilograms;  copper,  ore  and  crude, 
23,000,000;  palm  oil,  6,500,000;  rubber  4,000,000;  ivory,  500,000;  gold,  4,500;  and 
diamonds  216,000  karats.  The  agricultural  products  include  coffee,  cocoa,  rice,  cot- 
ton, tobacco,  and  fruits  of  great  variety.  Cattle  thrive  in  all  districts  where  there  is 
no  tsetse  fly,  especially  on  the  highlands.  In  the  northeast  section  the  grains  and  vege- 
tables of  the  temperate  zone  may  be  cultivated.  The  wealth  of  resources,  both  min- 
eral and  agricultural,  cannot  even  be  estimated  on  the  basis  of  the  exports  or  the 
present  cultivation  according  to  primitive  methods. 

THE  The  Native  people  of  Belgian  Congo,  estimated  at  about  11,000,000, 

PEOPLE  are  distributed  in  groups  throughout  the  colony  according  to  conditions  of 
health,  climate,  and  resources.  They  represent  a  great  variety  of  tribes  and 
languages  and  practically  all  stages  of  development,  from  cannibalism  to  that  of  the 
higher  forms  of  primitive  life,  together  with  a  small  number  who  have  the  attainments 
of  civilization.  Through  the  influence  of  missionaries  and  government  control  canni- 
balism has  been  greatly  diminished.  The  wide  distribution  of  the  people  through  the 
vast  areas  of  the  colony  has  made  it  impossible  for  the  agencies  of  civilization  to  pene- 
trate deeply  into  the  life  of  a  great  proportion  of  the  native  population.  It  is  a  sur- 
prise that  there  is  even  the  appearance  of  the  control  and  influence  of  civilization  now 
to  be  observed  by  the  traveler  through  the  colony.  The  responses  of  these  barbarous 
and  primitive  peoples  to  the  influences  of  civilization  are  significant  as  promises  for 
the  future  rather  than  as  measures  of  what  has  already  been  attained.  The  desire 
for  education,  the  willingness  to  submit  to  training,  and  the  generally  high  character 


BELGIAN  CONGO 

Most  of  the  significant  mission  efiforts  are  located  in  the  interior.  The  chief  geographical  feature  of  the 
colony  is  the  Great  Congo  Basin,  comparatively  low,  drained  by  immense  rivers  and  surrounded  by  exten- 
sive plateaus  of  such  height  as  to  modify  the  tropical  climate  of  the  plateau  regions  almost  to  the  quahty 

of  the  temperate  zone. 


252 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


of  many  of  the  Natives  in  schools,  government,  and  commercial  employment,  prove 
emphatically  that  the  Natives  of  the  colony  may  take  their  place  among  the  civilized 
groups  of  Africa.  It  is  not  possible  to  give  a  description  of  the  variety  of  abilities  in 
])hysical  and  mental  attainments  to  be  found  throughout  this  great  country.  The 
limited  results  already  attained  are,  however,  sufficiently  typical  of  the  various  peo- 
ples and  sections  of  the  colony  to  show  that  every  part  and  every  group  are  worthy 
of  any  help  that  may  be  given  to  them  through  missionaries,  merchants,  or  govern- 
ments. 

The  tribal  languages  of  the  colony  are  perplexingly  numerous.  As  yet  they  have 
been  only  tentatively  classified  and  many  of  them  are  spoken  by  such  small  groups  as 
not  to  merit  study  or  classification.  Present  tendencies  by  the  government,  missions, 
and  commercial  agencies  point  to  the  concentration  of  language  interest  on  about 
four  great  language  groups,  as  linguae  francae  of  the  colony.  The  most  important 
of  these  languages  is  the  Swahili,  in  which  there  is  a  group  of  writings  that  may  be 
dignified  by  the  term  literature.  This  language  is  spoken  by  millions  of  Native  peo- 
ples in  the  eastern  part  of  the  colony,  as  well  as  for  a  distance  of  almost  1,500  miles 
from  the  Katanga,  northward  along  the  Lualaba  and  the  Congo  beyond  Stanley  Falls. 
Lingala  is  probably  the  second  possibility  as  a  common  language,  since  it  is  spoken 
by  many  thousands  of  Native  peoples  along  the  Congo  from  Stanley  Falls  down  to 
Kinshasa,  a  distance  of  1,000  miles.  This  dialect  is  said  not  to  be  well  developed, 
nor  to  have  any  printed  matter  that  may  in  any  sense  be  described  as  literature.  In 
the  lower  Congo  region,  from  Kinshasa  to  the  mouth  of  the  Congo,  there  is  a  uniform 
language  called  Kikongo  into  which  the  Bible  and  several  books  and  pamphlets  have 
been  translated.  In  the  great  Kasai  region  Baluha  is  spoken  by  a  population  estimated 
at  about  3,000,000.  There  are  probably  three  or  four  other  dialects  that  are  spoken 
by  groups  of  considerable  size,  but  opinion  among  linguists  of  mission  societies  and 
the  government  seems  to  be  more  and  more  inclined  to  eliminate  all  but  the  four  lan- 
guages mentioned  from  serious  consideration  as  languages  for  general  use.  There  is  at 
present  a  rather  strong  tendency  towards  still  further  language  concentration,  the  idea 
being  to  make  the  Swahili  language  the  one  African  tongue  for  all  peoples  of  the  colony. 
The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  these  various  language  concentrations  cannot  be 
adequately  stated  at  the  present  time.  They  are  problems  to  be  worked  out  by  lin- 
guists who  are  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  languages  of  the  colony  and  the  tides 
of  economic  and  social  exchange  between  the  various  population  groups  of  Central 
Africa.  Two  or  three  convictions  regarding  language  seem  to  be  increasingly  recog- 
nized by  the  representatives  of  civilization  in  Africa.  The  first  of  these  is  that  the 
Native  people  have  a  fundamental  right  to  be  educated  as  far  as  possible  in  the  ver- 
nacular of  their  tribes.  The  second  is  that  there  must  be  a  language  or  languages  of 
exchange  with  neighboring  tribal  groups.  The  third  is  that  the  Native  teachers  and 
Native  leaders  of  the  people  must  have  an  opportunity  to  learn  one  of  the  great  Eu- 
ropean languages  so  that  they  may  have  access  to  the  wisdom  and  inspiration  of  civil- 
ization. 

An  interesting  situation  is  presented  in  the  distribution  of  Native  population 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


263 


in  the  various  districts  classified  according  to  climate  and  the  physical  characteristics 
of  the  country.  The  lower  Congo  region,  with  its  rugged  contour  and  limited  areas  of 
fertile  valleys,  is  occui)ied  by  ajjproximatcly  350,000  people.  The  Kasai  region, 
including  the  Kwango,  Kasai,  and  Sankuru  districts,  an  area  containing  both  fairly 
high  plateaus  and  extensive  river  valleys,  has  a  population  of  almost  a  million  and  a 
half.  The  high  plateaus  of  the  Katanga  have  at  least  a  million  Native  people  and  the 
lower  river  valleys  have  upwards  of  three-quarters  of  a  million.  The  great  highlands 
of  the  northeast  section  have  approximately  a  population  of  two  and  a  half  million 
people.  The  river  valleys  and  lower  plateaus  of  the  districts  north  of  the  Congo  River 
have  a  population  of  nearly  a  million.  The  great  central  basin  immediately  south  of 
the  Congo  River  with  its  lowlands  and  swamps  has  a  population  of  approximately 
a  million  and  a  quarter.  These  estimates  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  highlands, 
which  form  two-thirds  of  the  total  area,  contain  about  two-thirds  of  the  population. 
Both  the  highlands  and  the  lowlands  have  substantial  proportions  of  the  population, 
thus  requiring  educational  opportunities  so  that  they  may  participate  intelligently 
and  effectively  in  the  development  of  the  resources  of  their  respective  sections. 

EUROPEAN  European  influence  is  of  comparatively  recent  date  in  Belgian 

ORGANIZATIONS  Congo.  The  Congo  Independent  State  was  founded  in  1885  by 
Leopold  II,  King  of  the  Belgians,  and  the  state  was  placed  under 
his  sovereignty.  The  colony  was  formally  annexed  to  Belgium  in  1908,  when  the 
Belgian  Government  rather  than  the  King  assumed  responsibility  for  it.  The  early 
administration  of  the  colony  was  severely  criticised  for  many  unsatisfactory  condi- 
tions. Since  the  formal  annexation  about  1908,  it  is  generally  agreed  that  the  Belgian 
Government  has  administered  the  colony  with  commendable  regard  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  Natives  and  the  country.  The  government  reported  the  European 
population  in  1921  to  be  8,175,  of  whom  4,647  were  Belgians,  939  English  and  South 
Africans,  320  Americans,  660  Portuguese,  360  Italians,  49  Russians,  76  Swedish, 
206  French,  230  Dutch,  93  Swiss,  318  Greeks,  35  Luxumburgese,  34  Danish,  14  Nor- 
wegians, and  11  Spaniards.  The  Europeans  engaged  in  government  activities  number 
2,038;  those  in  various  forms  of  commerce  and  industry  3,783;  and  the  missionaries 
about  1,150,  of  whom  650  are  Roman  Catholics  and  500  are  Protestants.  In  view  of  the 
brief  time  since  the  Europeans  have  entered  the  colony  the  economic,  social,  and  edu- 
cational results  are  remarkable,  even  though  the  total  results  may  be  said  to  be  only  a 
beginning  of  the  great  work  that  needs  to  be  done.  The  constitution  and  government 
of  the  Belgian  Congo  are  described  in  the  following  quotations  from  the  Statesman's 
Year-Book : 

The  territory  is  divided  into  twenty-two  administrative  districts  which  are  grouped  into  four  provinces, 
each  under  a  vice-governor.  Each  of  the  twenty-two  districts  is  under  a  commissioner  and  each  is  divided 
into  territories  of  which  there  are  179  in  the  whole  colony.  The  districts  of  Ruanda  and  Urundi  together 
with  the  territory  around  Lake  Kivu.  all  of  which  were  formerly  a  part  of  German  East  Africa,  have  been 
ceded  to  Belgium  as  Mandatory  of  the  League  of  Nations. 

There  are  seven  courts  of  the  first  instance,  fifteen  county  courts,  two  courts  of  appeals  with  seventy- 
five  magistrates.  Fiu-thermore  every  administration  of  a  territory  is  invested  with  judicial  powers  compar- 


254 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


able  to  those  of  a  justice  of  peace.  The  Department  of  Justice  has  also  control  of  the  educational  activities 
of  the  colony. 

The  work  of  the  government  includes  a  wide  range  of  activities.  According  to 
the  reports  of  1920  the  total  expenditures  aggregated  sixty  and  a  half  million  francs  as 
against  receipts  of  fifty -five  million  and  a  half.  On  the  basis  of  normal  exchange,  these 
expenditures  are  equivalent  to  £2,422,000  or  about  $12,000,000.  It  has  not  been  pos- 
sible to  obtain  all  the  items  of  expenditure.  Some  of  the  more  important  are:  Adminis- 
tration, 8,750,000  francs;  the  army,  8,750,000  francs,  religion  and  education,  1,300,000 
francs.  It  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  the  Belgian  Government  that  its  expenditures, 
now  greater  than  its  receipts,  have  been  so  largely  devoted  to  the  colony  and  its  people. 
Among  the  more  important  phases  of  government  administration  and  the  results 
achieved  the  following  may  be  briefly  indicated: 

1.  Colonial  Officers — -Reports  of  mission  workers  and  the  observation  of  the 
African  Education  Commission  give  the  impression  that  the  colonial  oflScers  are 
as  a  rule  faithful  and  industrious  in  the  performance  of  their  duty.  Some  of  them 
are  men  of  scholarly  attainments  and  scientific  grasp  of  colonial  policies;  some  have 
shown  intimate  knowledge  of  practical  measures  in  dealing  with  Natives;  most  of 
them  have  shown  considerable  sympathy  for  the  primitive  peoples  committed  to 
their  charge.  The  relations  between  the  administration  and  missions  has  usually 
been  free  from  national  and  religious  bias,  and  many  officials  give  encouragement  to 
the  efiForts  of  mission  workers  who  show  genuine  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  people 
and  the  colony.  It  is  iuteresting  to  note  the  number  of  these  officers  who  have  worked 
in  the  colony  for  long  periods  of  time. 

2.  Security  of  Life  and  Property — The  success  of  the  government  in  establishing 
peace  and  order  throughout  the  vast  area  and  among  the  diverse  peoples  surpasses 
the  expectation  of  the  observer  who  enters  the  colony  with  any  understanding  of  the 
difficulties  confronting  the  Belgian  officials.  Withiu  the  few  years  of  occupation, 
tribal  wars  have  been  eliminated;  cannibalism  has  been  almost  ended;  witch  doctors 
are  very  greatly  limited  in  their  dangerous  practices;  monogamy  is  encouraged  by 
taxation  of  more  than  one  wife.  So  completely  have  peace  and  order  been  established 
that  now  government  officials  are  frequently  charged  with  too  great  leniency  towards 
the  Natives.  Usually  this  is  the  complaint  of  those  who  have  been  punished  by  the 
government  for  resorting  to  physical  force  in" directing  the  Natives. 

3.  Health  and  Hygiene — In  view  of  the  very  serious  health  problems  of  the  colony 
the  government  plans  for  cooperation  with  private  agencies  for  improved  sanitation 
and  hygiene  are  highly  commendable.  Aheady  a  number  of  hospitals  have  been 
constructed,  and  schools  for  the  training  of  Native  medical  assistants  are  being 
organized.  The  Belgian  Government  not  only  recognizes  physicians  trained  in  other 
countries,  but  also  furnishes  special  training  in  tropical  medicine  to  those  who  are 
able  to  spend  some  time  in  Brussels.  The  Brussels  School  of  Tropical  Mediciae  also 
offers  a  simple  course  in  hygiene  and  sanitation  adapted  to  missionaries  who  have  not 
had  medical  training.    In  the  colony  the  government  provides  medicines  and  other 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


255 


forms  of  help  to  missions  that  are  willing  to  assist  in  the  improvement  of  health  condi- 
tions in  their  areas.  Under  the  patronage  of  Her  Majesty,  the  Queen  of  the  Belgians, 
organizations  have  been  formed  to  advance  child  hygiene  and  to  develop  healthful 
home  conditions  both  for  Europeans  and  for  Natives.  An  effort  is  now  being  made  to 
enlist  the  aid  of  the  International  Red  Cross  and  the  great  health  foundations  of  the 
world  for  the  control  and  elimination  of  sleeping  sickness  and  other  diseases  that  are 
retarding  the  development  of  the  colony. 

4.  Transportation  and  Communication — ^The  government  has  been  active  in  all 
forms  of  transportation  and  communication.  The  colony  is  fortunate  in  its  great  river 
system.  Increasing  attention  is  being  given  to  the  development  of  adequate  steamer 
service.  Through  the  constant  vigilance  of  the  marine  department  of  the  colonial 
government  the  lower  stretch  of  the  Congo  River  is  kept  open  for  ocean  liners  for  93 
miles  up  to  Matadi,  where  the  falls  make  further  navigation  impossible.  On  this 
stretch  the  government  has  as  yet  been  able  to  maintain  but  few  steamers.  On  the 
upper  Congo  and  its  tributaries  the  government  and  private  companies  maintain  up- 
wards of  a  hundred  steamers  for  commercial  purposes.  Some  of  the  steamers  for  the 
trip  of  1,000  miles  from  Stanley  Pool  to  Stanley  Falls  are  decidedly  comfortable  for 
passenger  service.  There  is  also  a  regular  though  not  frequent  service  for  the  navigable 
stretches  of  the  Lualaba  River,  which  is  a  continuation  of  the  Congo  toward  the  Kat- 
anga and  South  Africa.  While  the  boat  service  is  as  yet  inadequate,  improvement  is 
being  made  with  reasonable  rapidity. 

In  the  development  of  railways  comparison  with  other  colonies  is  not  to  the  dis- 
credit of  the  Belgian  Congo.  Already  the  government  has  constructed  1,267  miles  of 
railway.  The  more  important  lines  are  those  which  continue  transportation  where  the 
Congo  River  is  broken  by  falls  and  rapids.  The  Matadi-Leopoldville  Une,  248  miles 
in  length,  is  the  one  outlet  of  the  great  river  system  to  the  port  of  ocean  embarkation 
at  Matadi.  The  present  facilities  of  this  railway  are  entirely  unequal  to  the  great  de- 
mands made  upon  it  for  transportation  of  passengers  and  freight  from  the  vast  interior 
regions  to  the  one  port  connecting  the  colony  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  Hitherto 
the  strain  upon  this  stretch  of  line  has  been  greatly  increased  by  the  demands  of  the 
French  Congo,  which  has  no  other  outlet  to  the  sea.  Fortunately  both  the  French  and 
Belgian  Governments  are  aware  of  this  serious  handicap  to  their  development  and  they 
are  now  actively  engaged  in  providmg  increased  and  improved  facilities.  The  second 
important  stretch  of  railway  is  that  of  the  Katanga  region,  extending  from  the  head- 
waters of  the  Congo  River  at  Bukama  on  the  Lualaba  a  distance  of  451  miles  to  the 
Rhodesian  frontier,  where  it  connects  with  the  South  African  Railway,  extending  over 
2,000  miles  to  Cape  Town.  This  railroad,  with  the  navigable  portions  of  the  upper 
Lualaba  River,  and  the  two  stretches  of  railway  where  the  falls  break  navigation  on 
the  Lualaba,  are  sections  of  the  Cape  to  Cairo  Railway.  Considerable  attention  has 
been  given  to  the  development  of  highways.  It  is  reported  that  there  are  about  5,000 
miles  of  road,  partly  suitable  for  automobiles.  The  results  would  indicate  that  there 
has  probably  been  less  effort  in  this  direction  than  in  river  and  railway  development. 
Recently  a  hydroplane  service  has  been  instituted  for  rapid  travel  of  the  1,000  miles  be- 


256 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


tween  Stanley  Pool  and  Stanley  Falls.  The  system  of  telephone,  telegraph,  and  wire- 
less communication  has  been  steadily  improved  and  extended  so  that  it  is  now  possible 
to  communicate  with  almost  all  the  important  government  centers  of  the  colony. 
High-power  wireless  stations  will  soon  be  introduced,  making  possible  direct  com- 
munication from  one  end  of  the  colony  to  the  other.  In  view  of  the  comparatively 
brief  time  of  colonial  control  by  Belgium  and  the  primitive  character  of  the  country, 
the  systems  of  transportation  and  communication  are  a  real  achievement. 

5.  Agriculture — A  significant  beginning  has  been  made  in  agricultural  experi- 
mentation and  educational  propaganda.  These  beginnings  are  to  be  seen  in  the  botan- 
ical gardens,  in  the  employment  of  experts  in  tropical  plants  and  plant  diseases,  in  the 
active  interest  shown  by  some  of  the  government  officials,  and  in  the  work  of  the 
government  plantations.  At  present,  however,  the  activities  of  religious  missions  in 
agriculture  are  probably  more  significant  than  those  of  the  government.  Most  of  the 
missions,  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic,  are  giving  the  Native  boys  and  girls  valu- 
able instruction  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  The  encouragement  of  these  mission 
efforts  by  the  government  is  probably  the  most  effective  way  to  obtain  immediate 
results  in  agriculture.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  the  government  must 
very  soon  institute  large  and  effective  measures  for  the  agricultural  development  of 
the  country. 

6.  Commission  for  the  Protection  of  Natives — The  appointment  of  this  commission 
is  in  some  resijects  the  most  significant  act  of  the  government  in  behalf  of  the  Natives. 
It  is  evident  that  the  perplexing  character  of  colonial  conditions  and  the  vast  extent 
of  the  responsibilities  involved  require  the  combined  wisdom  of  government,  altru- 
istic organizations,  and  commercial  concerns  as  they  are  represented  in  the  member- 
ship of  this  commission.  The  success  of  the  commission,  as  indicated  by  the  character 
of  the  reports  issued  and  by  the  appreciation  expressed  by  mission  societies  for  its 
work,  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  education  activities  of  the  government 
described  in  the  next  section  of  this  chapter. 

The  presence  of  large  industrial  and  commercial  concerns  in  the  colony  is  an  indica- 
tion of  the  success  of  the  government  in  establishing  peace  and  order.  The  multiplica- 
tion and  enlargement  of  these  organizations  point  to  the  great  resources  of  the  colony 
and  also  to  the  wisdom  of  the  government  in  the  development  of  these  resources. 
The  most  significant  of  the  industrial  concerns  are  those  of  the  Katanga  and  the  Kasai 
in  mining.  The  minerals  of  these  regions  have  been  mentioned.  The  Union  Miniere 
Company  of  the  Katanga,  representing  Belgian  and  English  capital,  has  organized 
three  large  mining  centers  in  that  region.  The  Lubumbashi  Smelting  Works  at  Elisa- 
bethville  employ  5,000  Natives  and  a  number  of  Europeans  and  Americans.  At 
Panda,  about  eighty  miles  away,  a  concentrating  plant  has  been  constructed  at  great 
cost.  Here  6,000  Natives  and  about  250  Europeans  are  employed.  The  Kambove 
center,  fifteen  miles  from  Panda,  employs  2,000  Natives  under  the  direction  of  a  num- 
ber of  technical  experts.  Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  industrial  development  was  ob- 
served in  the  electrical  machinery  of  the  concentrating  plant  at  Panda,  which  consists 
of  several  huge  turbine  engines,  each  with  a  production  capacity  of  5,000  kilowatts. 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


257 


The  boilers  of  this  plant  require  150  tons  of  coal  or  SOOtonsof  wood  daily.  Thecompany 
has  transformed  the  wilderness  into  a  modern  industrial  town  with  comfortable  resi- 
dences for  the  technical  experts, housing  facilities  for  the  Natives,  attractive  office  build- 
ings for  the  administrative  force,  and  an  impressive  assembly  of  derricks,  steam  shovels, 
railways,  and  other  forms  of  modern  machinery.  Similar  developments  have  been  begun 
in  the  Kasai  regions  where  diamonds  have  been  discovered  in  profitable  quantities. 

In  other  sections  of  the  colony,  especially  along  the  Congo  River  and  some  of  its 
branches,  the  Lever  Company  has  erected  large  plants  for  the  production  of  palm  oil 
and  other  palm  products.  The  Lever  plants  have  exerted  wide  influence  on  the  eco- 
nomic development  of  the  Congo  River  basin.  It  is  not  possible  to  give  a  complete 
account  of  the  various  industrial  developments.  They  are  really  only  the  beginning  of 
the  industrial  and  agricultural  possibilities  of  the  colony.  Numerous  trading  concerns 
representing  the  commercial  interests  of  Belgium,  Portugal,  Great  Britain,  Holland  and 
other  countries,  have  entered  the  colony  and  are  maintaining  mercantile  establish- 
ments of  varying  size  and  importance.  The  imports  for  1918  include  cotton  goods 
valued  at  ten  and  a  quarter  million  francs;  provisions,  one  and  a  half  million  francs; 
wines  and  spirits,  two  and  a  half  million  francs;  river  steamers  and  equipment,  over 
a  million  francs;  machinery,  about  a  million  francs.  With  the  resumption  of  normal 
trade  conditions  since  the  war  both  imports  and  exports  are  increasing  with  great 
rapidity.  The  influence  of  the  industrial  and  commercial  concerns  on  the  economic 
development  of  the  colony  is  apparent  to  even  the  casual  observer.  The  govern- 
ment has  made  some  efforts  to  extend  this  influence  for  the  development  of  Native 
people.  In  some  instances  government  concessions  of  land  have  been  given  on  con- 
dition that  a  school  shall  be  maintained.  Some  of  the  companies  show  signs  of  interest 
not  only  in  the  economic  results  of  their  activities  but  also  in  the  welfare  of  the  Natives. 
There  is,  however,  great  room  for  improvement  in  this  respect.  Commercial  and 
industrial  concerns  have  yet  to  learn  that  even  their  economic  success  depends  finally 
on  the  sound  development  of  the  Native  peoples.  The  Native  population  requires 
the  best.  Even  on  a  basis  of  labor  supply,  the  scant  Native  population  must  be 
cared  for  from  the  point  of  view  of  health  and  developed  in  efiiciency.  Under  the 
tropical  conditions  there  is  little  hope  for  sound  economic  development  of  the  col- 
ony without  a  Native  population  that  is  healthy  in  body,  capable  in  mind,  and  reliable 
in  character.  However  much  the  industrial  and  commercial  possibilities  of  the  coun- 
try may  be  developed,  the  final  success  will  depend  upon  the  effective  use  of  the  soil 
and  the  building  up  of  the  Native  citizenship  of  the  colony. 

II.  EDUCATION 

The  task  of  supplying  any  kind  of  education  to  eleven  million  primitive  and,  in 
some  instances,  barbarous  people,  distributed  in  groups  of  varying  numbers  over  a 
territory  almost  a  milhon  square  miles  in  extent,  cannot  be  fully  appreciated  even  by  a 
student  of  education.  A  corresponding  distribution  of  population  is  that  of  the  Ameri- 
can Negroes  scattered  throughout  the  sixteen  southern  states  in  America,  but  with 


258 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


the  vital  difference  that  twice  the  number  of  white  people  swell  the  population, 
and  also  that  the  white  peojile  of  the  neighboring  states  are  ten  times  the  number  of 
the  Negroes  in  the  South.  What  an  amazing  responsibility  for  Belgium,  only  one- 
eightieth  of  the  Congo  area,  with  a  Belgian  population  of  only  seven  and  a  half  million 
living  six  thousand  miles  away  from  the  Congo  and  less  than  four  thousand  Belgian 
citizens  actually  in  the  colony !  Though  the  late  King  Leopold  began  his  Congo  influ- 
ence in  1885,  the  real  work  of  the  Belgian  Government  was  not  undertaken  until  1908, 
when  the  colonj^  was  formally  annexed  to  Belgium.  All  these  are  significant  facts 
in  the  evaluation  of  the  educational  influence  of  the  Belgian  Government. 

In  comparison  with  the  great  needs  and  the  real  responsibilities  of  the  people  and 
the  country,  the  present  educational  facilities  are  almost  negligible.  Of  the  2,200,000 
children  of  school  age,  there  are  less  than  200,000  in  all  types  of  schools.  The  primi- 
tive and  crude  character  of  a  very  large  proportion  of  these  schools  is  beneath  any 
school  test  ever  conceived  by  an  American  or  European  student  of  education.  With 
full  appreciation  of  both  the  immensity  and  the  difficulty  of  providing  adequate 
educational  facilities  for  this  great  colony  and  its  millions  of  very  primitive  peoples, 
the  Education  Commission  has  been  deeply  impressed  by  significant  elements  of 
hope  for  the  future.  The  first  of  these  is  the  devoted  service  of  the  Protestant  and 
Catholic  missionaries  who  for  many  years  have  been  working  in  considerable  numbers 
in  various  parts  of  the  colony.  The  second  element  of  hope  is  the  attitude  of  the  Bel- 
gian Government,  especially  of  the  King  and  Queen,  who  have  given  numerous  proofs 
of  real  concern  for  the  welfare  of  the  Native  people. 

Government  and  Education 

The  most  substantial  contribution  of  the  government  to  the  education  of  the 
Natives  has  been  the  attitude  of  genuine  interest  in  all  educational  movements  and 
agencies.  This  attitude  has  been  evidenced  in  the  encouragement  offered  to  mission 
societies.  These  societies  report  the  government  to  be  impartial  in  policies  relating 
to  various  religious  organizations  in  the  colony.  Through  this  friendly  and  impartial 
attitude  the  government  wins  for  Congo  the  help  of  many  splendid  teachers,  physi- 
cians, social  and  religious  workers,  and  considerable  financial  aid  from  non-Belgian 
sources  in  Europe  and  America.  This  is  evidently  sound  policy,  for  however  much 
the  government  may  be  able  to  increase  educational  appropriations  and  multiply 
schools,  Belgium  is  not  likely  to  be  able  to  develop  and  maintain  an  effective  educa- 
tional system  in  the  Congo  without  the  devotion  and  service  of  the  missionary  soci- 
eties from  other  countries. 

The  Catholic  missionaries,  many  of  whom  are  of  Belgian  origin,  are  naturally  in 
close  touch  with  their  government  and  have  received  many  subsidies.  The  following 
resolutions  of  Protestant  boards  from  the  United  States  and  Europe  indicate  the 
wise  statesmanship  of  the  Belgian  Government  and  the  loyal  service  of  the  mission 
boards  to  the  Belgian  Colony: 

We  gratefully  recognize  the  progress  that  has  been  made  under  the  Belgian  Colonial  Administration 
in  the  conditions  of  the  Native  population,  and  the  friendly  attitude  of  the  government  towards  all  the 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


259 


efforts  which  the  missions  are  making  for  the  education,  medical  relief,  and  social  and  economic  advance 
of  the  Native  subjects  of  King  Albert. 

We  desire  respectfully  to  express  our  sympathy  with  the  government  in  the  great  difficulties  with  which 
it  has  to  contend  under  the  circumstances  of  the  present  time  in  providing  adequately  for  all  the  public 
services  of  the  colony,  and  in  carrying  out  all  the  benevolent  proposals  which  have  been  approved. 

We  are  gratified  to  know  that  the  Commission  for  the  Protection  of  the  Natives,  two  members  of  which 
are  Protestant  missionaries  from  this  group  of  societies,  has  been  able  to  present  a  report  to  the  King  which 
deals  with  matters  of  far-reaching  importance,  and  that  already  the  government  has  been  able  to  take  action 
corresponding  to  the  recommendation  of  the  Commission,  as,  for  example,  in  the  matter  of  drug  supplies 
to  mission  dispensaries  for  the  treatment  of  sleeping  sickness  and  other  epidemic  diseases  among  the  Natives. 

We  do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  the  missionaries  of  our  societies  are  carrying  on  their  benevolent 
work  on  behalf  of  the  Congo  people  as  foreign  residents  under  the  protection  of  the  Belgian  Government 
and  that  this  involves  special  obligation  upon  those  missionaries  always  to  maintain  and  inculcate  the  utmost 
loyalty  to  the  government.  We  would  emphasize  the  great  importance  of  this  obligation  being  recognized 
in  all  personal  relationships  and  correspondence  of  our  missionaries.  In  particular  we  recommend  that  as 
a  rule  all  important  representations  to  the  government  should  be  made  through  the  duly  appointed  "repre- 
sentante  legal"  of  the  mission  in  the  field. 

The  Commission  for  the  Protection  of  Natives,  mentioned  with  appreciation  in 
the  above  resolution,  is  one  of  the  most  definite  forms  of  cooperation  between  govern- 
ment and  private  organizations  observed  in  Africa.  The  members  of  the  Commission 
are  appointed  for  life  by  the  King.  They  represent  the  government,  commercial  con- 
cerns, Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  missions.  The  Commission  reports  present 
the  cause  of  the  Natives  with  sympathy  and  thoroughness.  The  recommendations 
are  wise  and  practical  and  doubtless  have  much  influence  on  government  policies  for 
the  colony.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  other  governments  will  follow  this  excellent  example. 

The  administration  of  colonial  education  centers  in  the  Department  at  Brussels. 
The  management  in  the  colony  is  entrusted  to  a  section  of  the  Department  of  Justice 
at  Boma,  the  political  capital  of  the  colony.  The  local  administration  is  under  the 
direction  of  the  Provincial  Administration  of  Justice.  The  Department  of  Justice 
and  its  Provincial  Divisions  assign  the  educational  responsibilities  to  subordmate 
officers.  It  is  evident  that  the  assignment  of  education  as  a  subordinate  function  of 
the  Department  of  Justice  does  not  recognize  the  vital  importance  of  Native  training 
to  the  colony. 

The  total  government  appropriation  in  1920  for  education  was  less  than  a  million 
and  a  quarter  francs,  equivalent  in  normal  exchange  to  $250,000,  or  £50,000.  This 
is  recognized  by  the  Belgian  Government  as  utterly  inadequate  and  it  is  explained 
partly  as  one  of  the  results  of  the  Great  War  in  which  Belgium  suffered  so  tragically. 
The  sum  is  partly  supplemented  by  expenditures  in  agriculture,  health,  and  other 
departments  with  activities  related  to  Native  welfare.  With  all  possible  allowances, 
however,  the  financial  expenditure  for  education  is  almost  negligible  as  compared 
with  the  need. 

The  educational  activities  maintained  by  the  government  comprise  eight  official 
schools  with  1,600  pupils,  located  in  various  parts  of  the  colony.  In  addition  the  gov- 
ernment does  educational  work  in  connection  with  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
and  the  Department  of  Health.  The  officers  and  teachers  of  the  official  schools  are 
Roman  Cathohc  Brothers  from  teaching  orders  in  Belgium.  They  are  men  of  educa- 


260 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


tion  and  experience,  well  fitted  for  their  work.  The  school  plants  are  usually  sub- 
stantial. The  activities  are  varied  and  in  the  main  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  pupils, 
as  a  rule  includmg  training  in  gardening  and  industry  and  provision  for  recreation. 
The  boarding  facilities  could  well  be  improved  and  more  educational  use  should  be 
made  of  these  important  activities.   The  chief  schools  visited  are  as  follows : 

EUsabethville  Government  School 

The  Elisabethville  School  is  a  trade  school  training  Native  boys  in  woodwork, 
iron  and  machinery,  shoe  making,  printing,  and  tailoring.  The  boys  work  from  six  to 
seven  hours  a  day  in  the  shops.  ^Mien  they  have  completed  their  training,  they  are 
admitted  to  the  railroad  shops  and  other  industrial  concerns.  The  teaching  Brothers 
are  skilled  mechanics  and  the  equipment  is  much  better  than  in  most  mission  schools. 
There  is  also  a  primary  school  for  teaching  the  rudiments  of  knowledge,  attended 
by  about  150  boys. 

Stanleyville  Government  School 

Stanleyville  School  combines  instruction  of  elementary  grade  with  trade  instruc- 
tion in  iron,  wood,  leather,  and  printing,  the  former  work  being  taken  by  170  pupils 
and  the  latter  by  30.  Each  industry  is  in  charge  of  a  Brother  of  a  Catholic  teaching 
order.  The  lower  classes  of  the  elementary  school  are  taught  by  Natives  and  the  upper 
classes  by  the  Brothers.  The  trade  pupils  remain  in  the  school  for  three  or  four  years 
or  until  they  are  needed  for  government  work.  Comparatively  little  attention  is 
given  to  the  teaching  of  gardening.  Pupils  are  brought  from  different  parts  of  the 
provmce.  As  there  are  no  boarding  or  rooming  facilities  in  the  school,  the  boys  board 
with  Natives  in  the  village. 

Boma  Government  School 

Boma  School  includes  an  elementary  day  school  of  six  years,  and  one  year  of  special 
work,  with  a  total  attendance  of  144  pupils  at  the  time  of  visit;  an  elementary  boarding 
school  for  orphans,  enrolling  140  pupils,  many  of  whom  are  mulattoes;  a  section  for  the 
training  of  government  clerks,  a  two-year  course  enrolling  fifteen  pupils;  a  section  for 
training  teachers,  also  a  two-year  course;  and  a  carpentry  section  with  a  three-year 
course,  emoUing  twenty-three  pupils.  The  boys  do  all  the  work  of  the  school,  including 
some  gardening.  The  teachers  are  Brothers  of  a  Roman  Catholic  order.  Buildings 
and  grounds  are  substantial  and  well  arranged. 

Alberta  Industrial  School 

The  Alberta  Industrial  School  is  maintained  by  the  Lever  Brothers  Oil  Company, 
through  a  government  arrangement  requiring  the  company  to  maintain  a  school  in 
connection  with  each  of  the  land  concessions  made  to  it.  V^Tiile  it  is  not  one  of  the 
oflBcial  schools  described,  it  is  similar  in  general  plan  and  owes  its  existence  to  govern- 
ment influence.   The  instruction  includes  an  elementary  school  of  four  years'  study 


Go\ tiiSMi-NT  ( )i- 1- 1(  lALs,  Mission  W'ohkehs,  and  Xativk  Leadeus  at  Cape  Coast  Castle 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


S61 


and  industrial  training  in  woodwork,  pottery,  and  some  printing.  The  pottery  work 
was  good  and  seems  worthy  of  imitation  by  other  institutions.  At  the  end  of  tlie  third 
or  fourth  year  the  pupils  are  divided  into  two  groups,  one  group  speciaHzing  in  in- 
dustrial training  and  the  other  in  clerical  work.  In  this  institution,  as  well  as  in  the 
official  schools  visited,  the  brighter  pupils  are  selected  for  the  clerical  service.  This 
basis  of  selection  seemed  to  the  Commission  to  be  a  depreciation  of  industrial  activities. 
Considerable  attention  is  given  to  athletic  activities  and  games.  This  unusual  part 
of  the  program  is  especially  commendable.  The  teaching  staff  includes  three  Fathers 
and  one  Brother  of  the  Scheut  Order  and  four  Native  teachers.  The  plant  consists 
of  buildings  constructed  of  brick  walls  and  palm-leaf  roofs.  The  central  building 
is  a  large  church,  simple  and  beautiful  in  design.  The  altar  and  all  the  furnishings 
were  made  by  Natives  under  the  direction  of  the  Fathers  and  Brother.  Next  to 
the  church  is  a  comfortable  dwelling  for  the  European  teachers.  One  side  of  the  hol- 
low square  is  formed  by  a  long  row  of  buildings  used  as  classrooms.  The  other  sides 
are  composed  of  dormitory  buildings  for  the  boys  and  one-room  houses  for  the  Native 
teachers.  Practically  all  of  the  buildings  have  been  made  by  the  pupils  under  the 
direction  of  the  European  teachers.  A  building  to  be  used  as  a  dining-room  is  now 
being  planned. 

Training  of  Native  Medical  Assistants 

The  government  is  now  planning  to  organize  a  system  of  schools  for  the  training 
of  Native  medical  workers.  As  it  is  the  purpose  to  train  a  considerable  number  of 
Native  workers  in  a  comparatively  short  time,  the  entrance  requirements  will  be  very 
low.  The  chief  requirements  will  be  evidence  of  industry  and  good  character.  Dur- 
ing the  course  provision  will  be  made  for  instruction  in  reading  and  writing  the  ver- 
nacular and  French.  The  general  purpose  of  medical  training  will  be  to  make  it 
possible  for  the  pupil  to  care  for  a  microscope  and  to  use  it  in  the  diagnosis  of  such  im- 
portant diseases  as  sleeping  sickness,  malaria,  and  hookworm,  to  make  diagnosis  of 
other  Native  ailments,  to  be  conversant  with  the  well-known  remedies  for  these 
diseases,  and  to  care  for  the  minor  surgical  cases.  The  course  will  include  three  years  of 
instruction,  with  observation  and  practice.  The  general  course  will  cover  discussion  of 
the  qualifications  and  duties  of  a  medical  assistant;  elementary  physiology  and 
anatomy;  external  causes  of  illness  and  external  diseases,  such  as  ulcers,  infection,  fever, 
pulse,  asepsis  and  antisepsis;  general  care  of  sickness  with  use  of  common  remedies; 
general  idea  of  hygiene.  The  more  advanced  pupils  will  receive  training  in  a  special 
section  in  minor  surgery  and  medicine.  The  minor  surgery  will  include  knowledge  of 
and  practice  in  blood  letting,  incisions,  injections,  prevention  of  hemorrhage,  massage, 
reducing  of  fractures,  and  dislocations.  The  medical  part  will  include  study  of  symp- 
toms with  microscope  examinations  of  such  diseases  as  sleeping  sickness,  syphilis,  and 
dysentery.  There  will  also  be  experience  in  obstetrics  and  infant  hygiene.  Arrange- 
ments will  be  made  for  the  periodic  return  of  the  graduates  of  the  school  from  their 
villages  in  order  that  they  may  continue  their  studies. 

The  schools  will  be  provided  with  such  technical  materials  as  skeletons,  anatomical 


262 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


models,  wall  charts,  and  microscopes.  Each  institution  will  be  located  near  a  hospital 
and  daily  hospital  visits  will  be  made.  Pupils  will  be  required  to  pass  a  government 
examination  at  the  end  of  each  year  and  they  will  be  granted  a  certificate  as  Native 
Medical  Assistant  when  they  have  completed  three  years  of  training. 

The  government  invites  the  cooperation  of  both  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic 
missions.  This  cooperation  will  include  the  selection  of  a  definite  proportion  of  pupils 
by  each  group  of  missions,  and  arrangement  will  be  made  so  that  the  pupils  will  live 
in  hostels  maintained  under  the  direction  of  the  various  church  societies.  At  present 
the  government  maintains  small  training  departments  for  hospital  attendants  at  Boma 
and  Leopoldville,  and  very  limited  instruction  at  four  other  centers.  The  plan  de- 
scribed above  requires  a  more  extended  and  better  organized  work  in  five  centers,  to  be 
increased  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The  realization  of  this  plan  seems  to  the  Commission 
to  be  one  of  the  most  promising  factors  for  health  improvement  observed  in  Africa. 
The  activities  of  these  Native  medical  workers  should  in  the  course  of  time  eliminate 
the  terrible  influence  of  the  witch  doctor  and  very  greatly  improve  the  health  conditions 
among  the  Native  people.  With  the  encouragement  and  aid  offered  by  the  government 
to  the  medical  work  of  the  missions  there  is  increasing  hope  for  the  future. 

Training  of  Native  Agricultural  Workers 

The  government  maintains  several  agricultural  experiment  stations  in  different 
parts  of  the  colony.  As  the  primary  purpose  of  these  stations  is  to  ascertain  the  best 
methods  of  cultivating  plants  and  raising  livestock,  there  is  comparatively  little  pro- 
vision in  the  nature  of  a  school.  The  Native  workmen  have  an  opportunity  of  learn- 
ing by  doing  in  connection  with  their  daily  toil.  The  results  of  the  experiments  are 
distributed  in  some  parts  of  the  colony  by  itinerant  instructors.  The  amount  of  this 
important  work  is  as  yet  practically  negligible.  Some  of  the  colonial  officers  are  vitally 
interested  in  this  type  of  extension  work,  however,  and  are  rendering  a  splendid  service 
that  should  be  greatly  extended.  This  is  notably  true  of  the  Commissaire  at  Kon- 
gola.  This  officer  and  his  wife  have  been  very  successful  in  gardening  and  in  the  rais- 
ing of  chickens,  rabbits,  and  ducks.  Their  example  is  bound  to  have  wide  influence 
on  the  Native  people.  The  Commissaire  furthermore  offers  prizes  to  the  chiefs  who 
are  most  successful  in  arousing  their  people  to  a  real  interest  in  farm  activities.  The 
Director  of  Agriculture  in  Brussels  is  fully  aware  of  the  possibilities  of  agricultural 
extension  and  is  prepared  to  institute  an  effective  system  as  soon  as  the  government 
can  supply  the  necessary  financial  assistance. 

Military  Training  Schools  for  Natives 

The  military  training  camps  located  in  different  parts  of  the  colony  have  a  num- 
ber of  educational  features.  The  general  order  required  of  the  soldiers  and  their  wives 
who  live  in  little  homes  provided  for  them  has  a  very  helpful  influence  on  the  life  of 
the  soldier  and  his  family.  Well-organized  activities  in  gardening  are  required  to  sup- 
ply the  general  needs  of  the  camp  and  special  sections  are  assigned  to  each  soldier  fam- 
ily.   The  cultivation  of  these  garden  plots  is  carried  on,  not  only  by  the  soldiers, 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


263 


but  by  the  wives  and  children.  There  are  also  provisions  for  recreation,  which  include 
the  whole  population  of  the  camp.  In  addition  to  these  general  activities,  there  are 
special  schools  for  the  instruction  of  the  soldiers  in  the  elementary  school  subjects 
and  such  trade  activities  as  carpentry,  brick-making,  and  a  limited  amount  of  black- 
smithing.  The  general  influence  of  camp  life  is  decidedly  educational. 

Roman  Catholic  Missions 

It  is  not  possible  to  give  an  adequate  description  of  the  important  educational 
work  organized  and  maintained  by  the  various  Roman  Catholic  Societies.  Some  of 
their  splendid  schools  were  visited  and  a  description  of  the  more  important  of  them 
will  be  presented.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  services  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  teaching  orders,  who  have  charge  of  the  eight  government  schools  and  the 
institutions  maintained  by  the  Lever  Brothers.  According  to  the  government  report, 
the  Roman  Catholic  societies  maintain  47  stations  with  225  workers  in  the  Congo 
Kasai;  26,  with  122  workers,  in  Equator  Province;  and  37,  with  127  workers,  in  the 
Eastern  Province.  Facts  are  not  available  for  the  important  Province  of  the  Katanga. 
In  Ruanda-Urundi  there  are  sixteen  mission  stations  and  seventy-six  missionaries. 
It  is  reported  that  there  are  altogether  139  main  stations  and  690  missionaries.  The 
colony  has  been  definitely  divided  among  various  Catholic  orders,  so  that  there  are 
thirteen  Vicarships  or  Apostolic  Prefectures.  The  divisions  and  the  congregations  in 
charge  are  indicated  herewith : 

1.  Leopoldville  Vicarship,  under  the  Scheut  Fathers. 

2.  New  Antwerp  Vicarship,  under  the  Scheut  Fathers.  In  addition  there  are  the  Trappist  Fathers, 
with  a  Father  Superior  at  Coquilhatville,  and  also  the  Priests  of  Mill  Hill  with  headquarters  at  Basankusu. 

3.  Kasai  Vicarship,  under  the  Scheut  Fathers,  headquarters  at  Luluabourg. 

4.  Matadi  Prefecture,  under  the  Redemption  Fathers. 

5.  Kwango  Prefecture,  under  the  Jesuits,  headquarters  at  Kisantu. 

6.  Katanga  Prefecture,  under  the  Benedictines,  headquarters  at  Elisabethville.  Assistance  is 
also  given  by  Les  Freres  Mineurs,  who  formed  a  new  mission  group  in  1920. 

7.  Katanga  Prefecture,  under  the  Holy  Ghost  Fathers,  headquarters  at  Kindu. 

8.  Haut-Congo  Apostolic  Vicarship,  under  the  ^Tiite  Fathers,  headquarters  at  Bandoinville. 

9.  Stanley-Falls  Apostolic  Vicarship,  under  the  Priests  of  Sacred  Heart,  headquarters  at  Stanleyville. 

10.  Nianza  Apostolic  Prefecture,  under  the  \STiite  Fathers,  headquarters  at  Kilo. 

11.  Uele  (West)  Apostolic  Prefecture,  under  the  Dominicans,  headquarters  at  Niange. 

12.  Uele  (East)  Apostolic  Prefecture,  under  the  Premontres  Fathers,  headquarters  at  Buta.  The 
Fathers  of  the  Cross  are  also  attached  to  this  Prefecture. 

13.  Ubangi  Apostolic  Prefecture,  under  the  Capuchins,  headquarters  at  Banzyville. 

In  addition  to  the  above  orders,  there  are  also  the  Catholic  Sisterhoods,  who 
assist  in  various  neighborhoods: 

1.  At  Banana,  Boma,  LeopoldvUle,  New  Antwerp,  and  Basoko,  The  Franciscan  Sisters  of  Mary. 

2.  At  Moanda,  Kinkanda,  St.  Trudon,  Luluabourg,  Hemptinne  St.  Benoit  (Kasai)  and  Elisabethville, 
Sisters  of  Charity. 


264 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


S.    At  Kisantu  and  Tjemfii,  Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of  Notre  Dame. 

4.  At  Ibembo,  Amadi,  and  Gombari,  the  Sisters  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Mary. 

5.  At  Bamania  and  Bokuma,  the  Missionary  Sisters  of  the  Precious  Blood. 

6.  At  Bandoinville,  the  AVhite  Sisters. 

7.  At  Kinan,  Daughters  of  the  Cross. 

8.  At  Moleghve,  the  Sisters  of  Mens. 

9.  At  N'Kolo  lez  Thysville,  the  Canonesses  of  St.  Augustine. 
10.    At  Coquilhatville,  the  Trappist  Sisters. 

These  Catholic  orders  are  mamtaining  central  mission  stations  with  educational 
institutions  of  varying  size  in  the  large  areas  assigned  to  them.  From  these  central 
stations  there  go  mission  workers  who  organize  numerous  bush  schools  throughout 
the  region.  The  type  of  the  work  in  the  central  institutions  differs  according  to 
the  order  and  the  character  of  the  country.  In  some  places  the  activities  are  largely 
of  the  usual  schoolroom  type.  In  others  there  is  considerable  provision  for  industrial 
training,  and  in  a  few  there  is  real  agricultural  instruction.  Unfortunately,  it  will 
not  be  possible  to  give  a  comprehensive  account  of  all  these  institutions  and  their 
bush  schools.  Only  a  few  of  the  more  significant  are  included. 

Kisantu  Jesuit  School  for  Boys  in  Bas-Congo 

Kisantu  Jesuit  School,  founded  twenty-seven  years  ago  and  deservedly  famous, 
is  located  in  the  lower  Congo  region.  It  is  noted  for  its  extensive  and  successful  farm- 
ing operations.  In  a  tsetse  fly  belt,  the  Fathers  and  Brothers  of  the  Jesuit  Order  have 
succeeded  in  eliminating  the  infection  of  the  tsetse  fly  sufficiently  to  be  able  to 
develop  a  stock  farm  with  1,800  head  of  cattle,  a  few  horses,  and  some  other  animals. 
The  first  step  in  this  achievement  was  the  clearing  away  of  the  heavy  underbrush, 
where  the  tsetse  fly  was  bred,  and  planting  in  the  place  of  the  underbrush  the  straight- 
growing  eucalyptus  tree.  The  second  step  was  the  elimination  of  diseased  people 
and  animals  from  the  large  area  under  control  of  the  school.  The  third  step  was  to 
select  Native  acclimated  cattle  and  cross  them  with  European  animals  from  Brittany 
and  the  Flemish  part  of  Belgium.  In  addition  to  the  extensive  stock  operations, 
one  of  the  Brothers  has  developed  a  remarkable  garden,  which  includes  flowers  and 
vegetable  plants  of  great  variety.  There  are  also  extensive  fields  producing  valuable 
commercial  crops.  In  the  last  six  months  of  1920  the  plantation  sold  12  tons  of  pea- 
nuts, 24  tons  of  general  vegetables,  5134  tons  of  potatoes,  3  tons  of  palm  oil,  41  tons 
of  prepared  manioc,  4  tons  of  bananas,  7  tons  of  rice,  8^/^  tons  of  onions,  173  tons  of 
palm  kernels,  l]/2  tons  of  maize,  tons  of  peas,  \}/2  tons  of  miscellaneous  vegetables, 
and  23  tons  of  cattle.  The  ploughs  and  vehicles  are  drawn  by  oxen.  Every  part  of 
the  farm  was  in  an  excellent  state  of  cultivation.  The  central  plant  consists  of  large 
and  substantial  brick  buildings.  There  is  a  beautiful  and  impressive  church,  the  exten- 
sive home  building  for  the  Fathers  and  Brothers,  and  several  other  buildings,  including 
a  school,  barns,  and  a  number  of  other  structures  of  fair  size.  The  economic  and  edu- 
cational value  of  these  activities  to  the  general  neighborhood  is  undoubtedly  very 
great. 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


265 


There  are  six  Fathers  and  three  Brothers  of  the  Jesuit  Order  in  charge  of  the 
institution  and  the  hirgc  area  ceded  by  the  government  to  the  school.  The  rcHgious 
and  schooh-oom  work  is  carried  on  by  the  Fathers.  The  agricultural,  industrial,  and 
health  work  is  under  the  direction  of  the  three  Brothers.  Two  of  the  lirothcrs  have 
been  at  the  school  for  twenty-seven  years.  A  number  of  the  others  have  been  in  the 
Congo  for  upwards  of  twenty  years.  They  are  men  of  refinement,  broad  education, 
and  devotion  to  their  work.  The  influence  of  the  institution  extends  over  a  consider- 
able number  of  villages  on  the  land  directly  under  the  charge  of  the  mission,  and  still 
further  areas  through  the  traveling  missionaries  of  the  institution.  The  pupils  number 
130.  There  are  also  300  men  and  boys  who  work  as  laborers  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  the  farm.  The  classroom  instruction  is  given  in  the  morning.  It  is  of  a 
simple  and  elementary  character.  A  carpenter  shop  of  fair  size  is  maintained  and  a 
number  of  boys  receive  instruction  in  connection  with  the  repairs  and  building  oper- 
ations of  the  institution.  The  classroom  instruction  and  school  life  of  the  Native 
boys  are  both  insignificant  as  compared  with  the  farming  operations  of  the  institution. 
There  is  evident  need  for  improvement  in  the  sleeping  and  eating  facilities  of  the  pupils. 

Kisantu  School  for  Girls 

The  Kisantu  School  for  Girls,  under  the  direction  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  is 
really  a  part  of  the  larger  institution.  The  grounds  and  buildings  are  substantial  and 
attractive.  The  training  of  the  girls  in  the  school  and  the  extension  work  for  the 
Native  women  of  the  neighborhood  are  effective  and  closely  related  to  the  needs  of 
the  people.  There  are  about  200  girls  receiving  a  variety  of  instruction,  including 
elementary  school  work  under  good  teachers,  and  training  in  home  activities,  gar- 
dening, care  of  animals,  including  the  care  of  the  dairy  and  the  making  of  butter. 
Special  attention  is  given  to  the  girls  in  the  care  of  infants,  and  mothers  are  encouraged 
to  bring  their  babies  to  the  baby  clinic.  The  Sisters  in  charge  are  women  of  culture 
with  evident  skill  as  teachers  both  of  school  subjects  and  home  activities. 

Kimpesi  Roman  Catholic  School  for  Boys 

The  Kimpesi  Roman  Cathohc  School  for  Boys,  built  in  recent  years,  is  under  the 
direction  of  three  Fathers  and  three  Brothers.  The  plant,  very  largely  of  brick, 
includes  a  large  home  for  the  European  staff,  a  school,  a  shop,  some  smaller  buildings 
and  considerable  land  located  in  the  fertile  creek  bottoms.  The  gardens,  producing 
valuable  crops,  are  cultivated  by  the  pupils  and  a  number  of  Native  workers  who  are 
employed  for  the  purpose.  The  carpenter  shop  has  some  valuable  machinery,  including 
a  saw-mill.  The  instruction  is  rather  formal  and  the  rooming  facilities  for  the  boys 
might  well  receive  more  attention. 

Boma  School  for  Girls 

This  institution  is  maintained  by  the  Franciscan  Sisters.  The  Mother  Superior 
is  a  woman  of  unusual  education  and  refinement  and  directs  the  school  with  skill 
and  sympathy.    Her  associates  give  evidence  of  devotion  and  long  experience  in 


266 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


their  work.  The  girls  inchide  both  Natives  and  mulattoes.  The  instruction  covers 
about  four  grades.  Considerable  time  is  devoted  to  needlework  requiring  much  skill. 
Some  of  this  work  is  carried  on  by  employed  Natives  and  the  products  of  the  work 
are  sold  for  the  sui)port  of  the  institution.  A  baby  clinic  is  provided  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  Native  women  in  the  care  of  their  children.  This  is  largely  maintained  by 
the  wives  of  Belgian  officials  who  have  formed  an  association  for  the  purpose,  in 
response  to  an  appeal  from  the  Queen  of  Belgium. 

St.  Joseph's  School  at  Luluabourg  in  the  Kasai 

St.  Joseph's  School  at  Luluabourg  is  a  large  institution  providing  instruction  for 
boys  and  girls  in  elementary  school  subjects  and  in  a  variety  of  agricultural  and  indus- 
trial activities.  The  staff  consists  of  eight  Fathers  and  three  Brothers  of  the  Scheut 
Order  and  six  Sisters  of  Charity.  The  pupils  include  1,000  boys  and  200  girls.  Of 
these,  120  boys  and  40  girls  are  boarders  in  their  respective  schools.  There  are  700 
boys  in  the  day  school,  arranged  in  the  four  standards,  all  under  the  charge  of  one 
Father  and  eight  Native  assistants.  The  Father  also  has  charge  of  200  boys  who  are 
receiving  training  in  the  catechism.  The  120  normal  boys  are  under  two  Fathers  with 
Native  assistants.  The  normal  course  includes  pedagogy,  nature  study,  agriculture, 
hygiene,  and  practical  knowledge  of  electricity.  The  teaching  of  Latin  receives  more 
attention  than  French.  The  brick  and  tile  works,  the  carpenter  and  blacksmith  shops 
are  all  doing  good  work,  but  are  conducted  for  construction  purposes  rather  than  in- 
struction. The  workmen  are  graduates  and  permanent  employees.  The  Brother  in 
charge  of  the  blacksmithing  does  not  employ  even  an  apprentice.  There  are  some  300 
head  of  cattle,  including  cows  used  for  milk  and  oxen  used  for  farming.  There  are  some 
Belgian  cattle  that  have  been  imported  and  are  doing  well.  There  are  no  cattle  diseases 
and  the  herd  is  increasing  rapidly.  The  buildings  are  large  but  not  attractive  in  appear- 
ance. The  church  and  the  Fathers'  house  have  galvanized  iron  roofs,  but  most  of  the 
buildings  have  thatch  roofs.  The  recent  buildings  have  tile  roofs.  The  rooming 
facilities  for  the  pupils  are  inadequate  and  poorly  supervised.  Many  of  the  normal 
pupils  are  married  and  live  with  their  families  in  houses  provided  by  the  school.  There 
is  a  small  hospital  for  sleeping  sickness  in  which  there  were  a  half  dozen  cases  at  the 
time  the  school  was  visited.  There  is  also  a  hospital  and  dispensary  conducted  by  the 
Sisters. 

The  school  for  girls  has  separate  buildings  adjoining  the  school  for  boys.  The  instruc- 
tion covers  four  elementary  grades  and  training  in  knitting,  sewing,  mat-weaving, 
gardening,  and  the  general  work  of  the  institution.  The  kitchen  is  carried  on  in  Native 
style,  with  a  number  of  fires  on  the  floor.  The  arrangements  are  all  quite  primitive 
and  evidently  not  adequately  supervised  to  maintain  standards  of  cleanliness. 

Hemptinne  St.  Benedictus 

Hemptinne  St.  Benedictus  is  a  large  institution  with  attractive  buildings,  located  at 
the  edge  of  the  Kasai  region  at  an  altitude  of  about  2,000  feet.  The  staff  consists 
of  four  Fathers,  three  Brothers,  and  five  Sisters.   The  pupils  are  600  boys  and  200 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


267 


girls,  all  in  the  day  school  except  20  girls.  The  large  buildings  are  all  of  tiled  roof  with 
the  exception  of  the  church,  which  is  slated.  The  principal  structures  are  a  central 
church,  a  home  for  Fathers  and  Brothers,  quarters  for  a  Father  Superior  and  oflBce 
rooms,  dinhig-room  and  kitchen,  a  long  narrow  school  building  with  seven  rooms,  four 
rooms  for  catechists,  pruiting  house,  carpenter  shop,  small  buildings  for  curing  tobacco 
and  brewing  beer,  and  other  smaller  structures.  There  are  360  head  of  cattle  of  Native 
stock  from  Angola.  It  is  the  policy  of  the  school  to  bring  in  no  foreign  stock.  The  farm 
is  supplied  with  machinery,  including  ploughs,  harrows,  cultivator  and  mower,  but 
no  wagons  or  carts. 

The  schools  are  under  the  charge  of  one  Father  and  ten  Native  assistants.  The 
classes  range  from  the  first  through  the  sixth  grade.  The  lower  classes  are  large,  but 
they  decrease  to  a  smaller  number  in  the  upper  standards.  The  fifth  and  sixth  stand- 
ards provide  instruction  in  arithmetic  through  the  metric  system,  French,  nature 
study,  history  and  geography,  physiology  and  anatomy,  and  one  hour  each  of  sacred 
and  church  history.  There  is  no  manual  training  or  gardening  for  boys  except  those 
who  are  apprentices  in  printing,  carpentry,  or  other  manual  work.  A  few  work  in 
the  mission  gardens  and  on  the  farm,  which  consists  of  forty  acres  very  largely  de- 
voted to  cotton.  In  the  carpenter  shop  they  do  good  work  in  the  making  of  furniture. 
Brick  and  tile  are  made  by  press. 

The  girls'  school  is  located  across  the  road  and  includes  a  home  building  for  the 
Sisters  and  a  school  and  dormitory  for  the  girls.  The  instruction  for  the  girls  is  lim- 
ited to  four  years.  Knitting  and  sewing  are  taught.  There  is  a  rather  striking  lack 
of  training  in  home  activities.  This  is  especially  observed  in  the  absence  of  basketry 
or  weaving  in  a  country  well  supphed  with  rafiia  palms  and  jungle  vines. 

The  classroom  instruction  and  the  training  of  the  boys  and  girls  in  elements  relat- 
ing to  their  simple  life  are  rather  poor  as  compared  with  the  attractive  plant.  A  system 
of  rewards  for  coming  to  school  has  been  devised  by  the  institution.  For  the  first  six 
months  each  pupU  receives  a  weekly  ration  of  salt,  which  is  the  local  currency;  for  the 
second  six  months  each  receives  a  piece  of  cloth.  The  necessity  of  bribing  the  children 
to  come  to  school  reflects  rather  seriously  on  the  school's  policies  or  the  condition  of  the 
Natives.  Neither  the  boys  nor  the  girls  gave  the  impression  of  tidiness  or  cleanliness. 

The  Native  villages  give  some  evidence  of  the  influence  of  the  school  on  the  eco- 
nomic condition  of  the  country.  Though  the  land  near  the  villages  is  rather  poor,  the 
Natives  seem  to  be  able  to  raise  fair  amounts  of  vegetables  and  cotton.  This  result 
is  partly  explained  by  the  rather  effective  work  of  the  government  post  in  the  con- 
struction and  upkeep  of  roads  and  in  providing  a  market  for  cotton.  The  work  of  the 
bush  schools  is  of  very  low  grade  and  almost  entirely  limited  to  the  memorizing  of  the 
catechism.  Aside  from  the  economic  improvements,  there  is  a  great  need  for  work  in 
behalf  of  health  and  morality  in  the  villages. 

Kindu  School  for  Colored  Boys  and  Girls 

The  Kindu  School  is  a  unique  institution  maintained  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  Daughters  of  the  Cross  for  children  of  Native  women  and  white  fathers.  It 


268 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


is  the  only  institution  in  the  Congo  devoted  to  children  of  mixed  parentage,  and  reflects 
the  policy  of  some  government  officials  and  some  Roman  Catholic  authorities  to  sep- 
arate the  mulatto  children  from  those  who  are  purely  Native.  There  are  about  100 
boys  and  100  girls,  ranging  in  age  from  5  to  17  years.  The  instruction  is  practically  all 
in  the  elementary  subjects  of  the  grades.  There  is  very  little  provision  for  manual  train- 
ing or  gardening  for  the  boys.  The  girls  are  instructed  in  household  duties.  Consider- 
able attention  is  given  to  indoor  and  outdoor  recreation.  The  Fathers  and  Sisters  were 
enthusiastic,  skilled  in  their  work,  and  devoted  to  the  improvement  of  the  children 
committed  to  their  charge.  The  plant  and  equipment  are  limited  but  in  good  order. 
The  school  activities  are  evidently  based  upon  the  traditional  and  conventional  Euro- 
pean systems,  purposing  to  prepare  these  children  for  clerical  pursuits  rather  than 
for  activities  related  to  the  more  general  needs  of  the  African  villages.  The  Sisters 
are  maintaining  a  hospital  and  clinic  for  the  Native  people.  Though  the  equip- 
ment is  very  crude,  the  services  rendered  by  the  Sisters  are  of  great  value. 

Outstation  Schools  of  the  White  Fathers 

The  outstation  schools  of  the  Wliite  Fathers,  located  in  the  eastern  part  of  Belgian 
Congo,  have  been  reported  as  especially  effective.  The  plan  as  described  is  of  sufficient 
value  to  justify  an  account  of  it  even  though  the  mission  was  not  visited.  According 
to  the  plan,  the  central  mission  has  organized  "Chapel  Schools"  at  as  many  places 
within  their  area  as  the  Fathers  are  able  to  supervise  effectively.  The  schools  are  gen- 
erally located  in  the  most  populous  regions.  The  building  is  usually  a  short  distance 
from  the  important  village  so  that  the  school  work  may  be  somewhat  independent  of 
the  communities  and  their  customs.  With  two  Native  catechists  in  charge,  the  plant 
sometimes  covers  two  and  one-half  acres  with  residences  for  the  catechists  and  their 
families,  a  house  for  visiting  missionaries,  a  place  for  a  helper,  some  cattle,  chickens, 
ducks,  fruit  trees,  and  a  garden  to  supply  food  and  to  serve  as  an  example  to  the  neigh- 
borhood. The  instruction  includes  religion,  reading,  and  writing  in  the  Native  lan- 
guage, elementary  arithmetic,  gardening,  and  the  raising  of  animals.  The  children 
attend  the  day  school  without  artificial  reward  or  force  except  during  harvest  time, 
when  they  are  permitted  to  assist  their  parents.  The  catechists  teach  once  or  twice  a 
week  in  each  of  the  important  villages  within  a  radius  of  about  twelve  miles  of  the 
"Chapel  School."  The  catechists  not  only  instruct  the  children  but  endeavor  to  teach 
the  adults.  Each  week  the  catechist  makes  a  report  to  the  mission,  and  each  fortnight 
a  European  missionary  inspects  the  "Chapel  School"  and  the  region.  It  is  evident 
that  a  system  of  local  schools  thus  related  to  the  simple  needs  of  the  people  and  care- 
fully supervised  by  the  European  missionaries  will  have  marked  influence  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  economic,  social,  and  religious  life  of  the  people.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  mission  will  be  able  to  maintain  the  thorough  and  sympathetic  supervision 
required  by  the  system. 

Protestant  Mission  Societies 

It  has  seemed  to  the  Commission  that  the  endurance,  skill,  and  devotion  of  the 
Protestant  missionaries  in  many  parts  of  the  Congo  have  been  more  severely  tried 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


2G9 


than  in  any  other  section  of  Africa  visited.  The  tropical  and  even  equatorial  climate 
has  been  the  first  of  their  trials.  While  the  Kasai,  Katanga,  and  some  other  regions 
have  the  relief  of  higher  altitudes,  there  are  immense  areas  of  swampy  lowlands. 
The  undeveloped  condition  of  the  colony  has  made  itinerant  service  not  only  difficult 
but  often  dangerous  to  health  and  life.  Even  the  encouragement  of  the  Belgian  Gov- 
ernment does  not  eliminate  the  necessity  of  substituting  the  French  for  the  English 
language,  and  learning  to  work  under  and  with  a  Government  and  a  people  whose  cus- 
toms and  religion  differ  from  those  of  the  Protestants  in  America  or  Europe.  None  of 
these  difficulties  have  overcome  the  earnestness  or  the  enthusiasm  of  the  missionaries  in 
their  labors  for  the  Native  people.  They  have  labored  on  through  the  decades  and  they 
have  been  loyal  to  the  best  interests  of  the  government  in  control.  There  were  times, 
under  a  regime  now  fortunately  ended,  when  they  were  obliged  to  protest  against  in- 
justice and  cruelty.  Today  their  protests  are  recalled  with  approval,  as  the  criticism  of 
real  friends.  The  Belgian  flag  is  loyally  hung  in  every  Protestant  school  and  there  is 
every  evidence  of  sincere  cooperation  between  missions  and  government.  The  unique 
value  of  Protestant  missions  is  partly  due  to  the  missionary  families  who  are  to  the 
Natives  living  examples  of  a  new  type  of  life  for  the  men,  women,  and  children.  Re- 
hgion  and  education  thus  become  vital  forces  in  the  daily  life  of  the  individual. 

One  American  mission  station  dates  back  to  1878.  Numerous  stations  were  begun 
between  1880  and  1890.  Some  missionaries  of  this  early  period  are  still  on  the  field, 
happy  in  their  forty  years  of  heroic  Christian  service.  According  to  the  1921  report  of 
the  Congo  General  Conference  of  Protestant  Missionaries,  the  Protestant  agencies  in 
the  Congo  include  20  mission  societies,  95  stations,  over  500  missionaries,  including 
about  24  physicians  and  32  trained  nurses,  about  56,000  church  members,  and  about 
85,000  pupils  in  day  schools.  The  following  statements  indicate  in  a  very  gen- 
eral way  the  extent  to  which  the  societies  have  extended  their  influence  through  the 
Congo. 

Congo-Kasai  Province — This  region,  with  a  population  of  a  million  and  a  half  Natives  and  somewhat 
less  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  square  miles  in  area,  comprises  the  western  section  of  the  colony  and  the  terri- 
tory drained  by  the  Kasai  River,  the  great  southern  branch  of  the  Congo  River.  There  are  seven  Protestant 
societies,  with  about  31  stations  and  67  workers  in  this  area.  In  the  Lower  Congo  District,  with  272,000 
people,  there  are  17  mission  stations  maintained  by  four  societies.  In  the  Middle  Congo  District,  with 
78,000  people  ,  there  are  five  mission  stations  with  26  workers,  maintained  by  two  societies.  In  the  Kwango 
District,  with  276,000  people,  there  is  but  one  station  with  five  workers.  In  the  Kasai  District,  with  562,000 
people,  there  are  three  stations  with  34  workers,  maintained  by  one  society.  In  the  Sankuru  District, 
with  334,000  people,  there  are  three  stations  with  21  workers,  maintained  by  two  societies. 

The  Equatorial  Province — This  region,  with  a  population  of  a  million  and  a  third  Natives  and  fully  a 
quarter  of  a  million  square  miles  in  area,  occupies  the  north  central  section  of  the  colony  and  the  basin 
drained  by  the  Upper  Congo,  and  the  Ubangi  and  Lulonga  Rivers.  There  are  four  Protestant  societies 
with  thirteen  stations.  In  the  LacLeopold  II  District,  with  147,000  people,  there  is  only  a  limited  work 
carried  on  by  Natives  under  the  occasional  supervision  of  workers.  In  the  Equateur  District,  with  441,000 
people,  there  are  five  mission  stations  with  36  workers,  maintained  by  two  societies.  In  the  Lulonga  Dis- 
trict, with  235,000  people,  there  are  seven  mission  stations,  with  35  workers,  maintained  by  one  society. 
In  the  Bangala  District,  with  380,000  people,  there  is  one  station  with  8  workers,  maintained  by  one  society. 
In  the  Ubangi  District,  with  98,000  people,  there  is  no  Protestant  educational  work  and  no  separate 
station. 


270 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


The  Eastern  Province — This  region  has  a  population  of  about  three  million  and  probably  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  million  square  miles  of  fertile  land.  The  northeastern  section  is  a  high  plateau,  with  at- 
tractive climate  and  well  suited  to  the  cultivation  of  grain.  There  are  three  societies  in  this  great  region.  The 
Uele  Districts,  occupying  the  extreme  northeastern  highland,  with  over  a  million  people,  are  occupied  by  the 
Heart  of  Africa  Mission  and  the  African  Inland  Mission.  The  Heart  of  Africa  Mission  reports  eight  sta- 
tions. According  to  reports,  their  work  is  evangelistic  with  comparatively  little  provision  for  education.  The 
African  Inland  Mission  began  its  work  only  in  recent  years  and  its  stations,  upwards  of  fifteen,  are  neces- 
sarily limited  in  influence.  Some  provision  is  made  for  the  education  and  economic  development  of  the 
people.  These  two  societies  maintain  some  stations  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Ituri  District,  with  a  pop- 
ulation of  450,000  Natives. 

The  Stanleyville  District,  with  260,000  people,  has  one  important  station  maintained  by  the  Baptist 
Missionary  Society  on  the  Congo  River,  and  some  smaller  work  in  the  northern  section  by  other  societies. 
The  Aruwimi  District,  with  235,000  people,  including  the  valley  of  the  Lomami  River  and  a  portion  of  the 
Congo  River,  has  the  Yalemba  station  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  in  the  northern  section.  The  Lowa 
District,  with  180,000  people,  has  only  one  Baptist  Missionary  Society  station  on  the  Upper  Lualaba  River. 
The  INIaniema  District,  with  425,000  people,  reports  no  Protestant  work.  The  Ruanda-Urundi  District, 
recently  taken  over  from  the  Germans,  has  been  assigned  to  the  Belgian  Protestants.  At  present  the  only 
Protestant  work  is  conducted  in  one  or  two  stations  just  started  by  the  Seventh  Day  Adventists. 

The  Katanga  Province — This  region,  famed  for  its  mineral  wealth  and  high  plateaus  of  agreeable  cli- 
mate, occupies  the  southeastern  section  of  the  colony.  Its  area  is  227,600  square  miles  and  its  population 
is  variously  estimated  at  from  one  and  one-half  million  to  three  millions.  The  Methodists  of  Northern  United 
States  report  four  stations.  The  Elizabeth  and  Kambove  stations  are  at  the  mine  centers  of  these  urban  areas. 
Kapanga  and  Kabonga  are  in  rural  areas.  The  Garanganze  Evangelical  Mission  reports  several  stations  in 
other  parts  of  the  province. 

Comparison  of  the  number  of  societies  and  stations  with  the  large  population 
groups  and  extensive  areas  of  the  districts  as  they  are  reported  in  the  above  summary 
presents  some  measure  of  the  very  limited  extent  to  which  Protestant  missions  provide 
educational  facilities  for  the  Natives  of  Belgian  Congo.  As  an  evidence  of  the  sincere 
interest  of  European  and  American  missions  in  the  African  people  these  mission 
stations  are  an  eloquent  tribute.  Their  inadequacy  for  either  the  educational  or  relig- 
ious training  of  the  Natives  is  emphatically  evident.  Even  in  Lower  Congo,  where 
the  mission  stations  are  comparatively  most  numerous,  the  facilities  offered  are  really 
only  a  beginning  of  what  needs  to  be  done.  The  great  districts  of  Kwango,  Lulua, 
Lomami,  LacLeopold  II,  Bangala,  Ubangi,  Ituri,  Lowa,  Maniema,  Ruanda-Urundi, 
Tanganyika — eleven  great  sections  with  populations  ranging  from  100,000  to  a  half 
million — have  only  one  station  each  to  represent  the  activities  of  Protestantism. 
To  the  Protestant  activities  there  must  be  added  those  of  the  Roman  Catholics  and  the 
government;  but  even  with  these  additions,  occupation  of  the  field  may  be  said  to 
have  only  begun.  The  quality  of  educational  work  will  be  indicated  in  the  description 
of  the  schools  visited  by  members  of  the  Commission.  The  primitive  character  of 
practically  all  the  educational  work  further  deepens  the  impression  of  the  great  need 
of  the  colony. 

In  view  of  the  immense  distances  in  Belgian  Congo,  it  was  impossible  for  the 
Commission  to  visit  representative  stations  of  all  the  mission  societies.  The  tour 
covered  four  general  districts:  the  societies  of  the  Lower  Congo  area,  including  the 
British  and  American  Baptists  and  the  Swedish  and  Christian  Alliance;  those  of  the 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


271 


Upper  Congo,  including  the  British  and  American  Baptists,  the  Disciples  and  the  Congo 
Balolo;  those  of  the  Kasai  country,  including  the  Southern  Presl)yterians  and  Southern 
Methodists;  and  the  Katanga  Province,  including  the  Northern  Methodists'  stations. 

Baptist  Missionary  Society 

The  Baptist  Missionary  Society  is  a  British  organization,  which  maintains  in  the 
Belgian  colony  ten  central  stations  and  one  other  station,  jointly  with  the  American 
Baptists.  Its  record  of  service,  extending  over  forty  years,  is  one  of  the  most  notable 
in  the  whole  colony.  The  main  stations  are  located  on  or  near  the  Congo  River  and 
extend  from  the  mouth  for  about  1,500  miles  into  the  interior.  The  institutions 
described  are  typical  of  the  activities  of  all  the  schools. 

Yakusu  Station — The  Yakusu  Station  is  located  on  the  Congo  River,  a  few  miles 
below  Stanleyville.  The  mission  was  founded  about  1896  and  was  located  in  the  cen- 
ter of  a  large  population.  Its  chief  work  is  to  prepare  teachers  and  evangelists  for  the 
367  outposts  distributed  throughout  the  region.  The  staff  present  at  the  time  of  visit 
included  two  European  families.  One  family  was  away  on  leave.  The  more  important 
buildings  of  the  plant  consist  of  five  houses  for  Europeans,  a  four-room  school  build- 
ing, a  church,  a  dormitory,  six  small  houses  for  married  Natives,  and  small  buildings 
for  printing  press  and  store.  Most  of  these  buildings  are  of  brick  and  tile.  Funds  have 
already  been  appropriated  for  the  erection  of  a  hospital.  The  residences  and  the  girls' 
school  have  gardens.  The  station  is  also  supplied  with  a  steamer  which  is  used  in 
visiting  the  outpost  schools  near  the  River. 

The  principal  activities  that  are  continuous  at  the  station  include  a  girls'  day 
school  of  100  pupils,  divided  into  four  classes;  a  boarding  school  for  sixteen  girls  learn- 
ing the  three  R's,  sewing,  gardening,  and  a  little  French;  a  boys'  school,  taught  by 
four  Native  teachers,  under  the  supervision  of  a  missionary  and  giving  instruction  in 
the  three  R's,  in  woodworking,  brick-making,  printing,  and  a  httle  French;  a  dispensary 
with  twelve  in-patients  and  hundreds  of  dispensary  patients  and  a  sleeping-sickness 
cKnic;  training  for  four  Native  male  nurses.  A  few  selected  pupils  receive  special 
instruction  in  carpentry.  The  girls  obtain  some  practice  in  the  gardens  of  the  mission- 
ary residences.  They  are  also  instructed  in  the  making  of  palm  butter  and  the  pro- 
ducing of  oil  from  the  palm  kernels. 

Teacher-training  classes  are  maintained  from  early  March  until  the  last  of  June 
and  from  the  first  of  September  to  the  last  of  December.  During  these  periods  the 
station  plans  to  bring  all  the  outpost  teachers  to  the  central  school  for  two  periods 
of  three  weeks  in  each  of  the  two  semi-annual  divisions.  The  subjects  taught  during 
these  periods  include  the  three  R's,  Bible,  methods  of  teaching,  hygiene,  geography, 
simple  woodworking,  and  a  little  French.  The  general  purpose  is  to  strengthen  and 
stimulate  the  teachers  in  their  knowledge, interest, and  morals.  Those  who  return  to  the 
school  for  these  periods  of  training  are  of  very  limited  education.  Their  knowledge  of 
reading  is  not  more  than  that  of  a  second  or  third  grade  child.  Their  arithmetic 
consists  of  addition  and  subtraction.  It  is  reported  that  a  very  small  number  of  them 
are  somewhat  more  advanced. 


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The  itineration  duties  of  the  missionaries  are  exceedingly  heavy.  From  January 
first  to  early  March  and  from  July  first  to  September  first,  one  missionary  and  his 
wife  are  traveling  up  and  down  the  Congo  and  its  branches  on  the  mission  steamer 
"Grenfell"  and  trekking  inland  wherever  it  is  necessary.  Thus  they  visit  the  350 
outpost  schools,  encouraging  the  Native  teachers,  examining  pupils  and  candidates 
for  membership  in  the  church,  and  generally  toning  up  the  communities  where  the 
schools  are  located.  The  medical  oflScer  on  the  school  staff  has  been  assigned  a  large 
area  for  hygienic  supervision  for  the  state. 

The  367  outpost  schools  are  taught  by  280  Native  "teacher-evangelists."  In 
addition  there  are  25  "superintendent-evangelists,"  who  are  supposed  to  supervise 
the  work  of  the  outpost  teachers.  The  plan  requires  that  this  superintendent-evan- 
gelist shall  alternately  spend  one  month  in  teaching  and  one  month  in  visiting  the 
schools  of  his  district.  It  is  reported  that  there  are  10,000  children  in  the  outpost 
schools  and  3,500  church  members,  and  17,500  persons  who  attend  the  dispensary 
annually. 

The  facts  given  above  concerning  this  mission  station  suggest  the  following  obser- 
vations :  first,  the  heroic  devotion  of  the  two  or  three  missionary  families  who  attempt 
the  stupendous  responsibilities  of  this  station  and  its  extensive  outpost  work;  second, 
the  attractive  plant  which  has  been  made  possible  by  the  Society  and  the  skill  of  the 
missionaries;  third,  the  apparent  impossibility  of  maintaining  any  kind  of  school 
standards  either  at  the  station  or  in  the  367  outpost  schools  with  such  a  limited  staff 
of  Europeans,  and  especially  with  Native  teachers  of  less  than  primary  grade  and 
scarcely  more  than  primitive  conceptions  of  life.  It  seems  certain  that  the  desire  of 
the  Natives  for  contact  with  the  mission  station  has  tempted  the  missionaries  to 
undertake  the  impossible  under  present  conditions.  Without  a  definite  effort  to  give 
more  advanced  training  to  a  few  of  the  Native  workers,  both  religious  and  educational 
efforts  are  likely  to  deteriorate  to  a  dangerous  degree.* 

Yalemba  Station — Yalemba  Station,  located  on  the  Congo  River,  has  many  points 
of  resemblance  with  the  Yakusu  Station  further  up  the  River.  The  full  staff  requires 
six  European  workers;  at  the  time  of  visit  there  were  but  three.  The  plant  consists 
of  three  residences  for  Europeans;  a  brick  chapel  seating  400;  a  girls'  school  with 
capacity  for  200;  a  carpentry  shed  with  four  sets  of  carpenter  tools;  three  small  build- 
ings for  printing  press,  dispensary,  and  store;  workmen's  dormitory  for  twenty  fami- 
lies; dormitory  for  sixteen  girls;  another  dormitory  for  forty  boys;  Native  teachers' 
building  with  twelve  rooms.  Each  European  house  has  a  garden  and  there  is  land  avail- 
able for  common  gardening.  The  enrollment  of  regular  pupils  consists  of  60  board- 
ing pupils  and  45  day  pupils.  The  school  activities  are  the  children's  school;  boarding 
pupils  divided  into  four  classes  ranging  from  those  who  merely  read  to  those  who  are 
also  learning  the  elements  of  arithmetic;  a  little  French,  and  geography;  instruction  in 
woodworking  to  ten  boys  selected  from  the  upper  classes;  printing  for  two  boys.  The 
boarding  girls  are  carefully  taught  in  plain  and  fancy  sewing,  the  making  of  oil  and 
nut  butter,  and  gardening.   The  work  for  the  boarding  girls  is  especially  effective. 

Pupil  teachers  from  the  97  bush  schools  come  to  the  station  in  groups  of  25  for 

*The  stafiE  of  European  workers  has  been  increased  to  thirteen  since  the  visit  here  reported. 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


273 


periods  of  three  weeks  twice  a  year.  The  status  of  these  teachers  and  their  training 
at  the  central  station  are  practically  identical  with  those  described  at  Yakusu.  The 
mission  endeavors  to  arrange  to  have  the  outjjost  schools  visited  by  a  European  worker 
once  every  four  months  and  more  frequently  by  one  of  the  five  Native  superintendents. 
The  accomplishments  and  the  difficulties  of  the  Yalemba  Station  are  practically  the 
same  as  those  at  Yakusu. 

U-poto  Station — While  Upoto  Station  is  further  down  the  Congo  and  older  than 
Yalemba  or  Yakusu,  the  general  plan  of  work  is  similar.  There  is  the  same  attractive 
plant,  including  a  fine  church,  school  facilities  for  the  pupils  who  remain  at  the  school 
throughout  the  year,  short  periods  of  instruction  for  outpost  teachers,  and  itinerant 
service  among  the  130  out-schools  distributed  for  120  miles  on  both  banks  of  the  Congo 
River.  The  well-trained  European  workers  are  more  numerous  than  at  Yalemba  or 
Yakusu  and  their  stations  are  relatively  less  numerous,  nevertheless  their  tasks  seem 
too  extensive.  The  educational  work  is  in  evident  need  of  organization  so  as  to  provide 
for  the  more  advanced  training  of  selected  pupils  who  can  be  more  effective  supervisors 
of  others. 

Two  educational  experiments  attempted  by  the  school  deserve  especial  mention. 
The  first  is  the  organization  of  a  Native  village  near  the  institution.  Each  house 
has  been  built  according  to  a  plan  agreed  upon  by  the  colony.  Each  family  is  to  main- 
tain a  garden  of  standard  area.  Principles  of  sanitation  and  order  are  to  be  observed. 
In  general,  the  colony  is  to  work  out  the  best  possible  standards  of  Native  life.  The 
second  experiment  relates  to  the  dormitory  life  of  the  school  boys.  The  plan  provides 
that  the  dormitory  life  shall  be  regarded  as  of  real  educational  value.  The  boys  are 
divided  into  groups  of  ten  under  the  direction  of  two  or  three  of  their  own  num- 
ber selected  on  the  basis  of  character.  One  of  the  Native  teachers  selected  by  the 
boys  themselves  is  the  chief  of  all  the  houses.  European  missionaries  are  the  court 
of  appeal  and  the  general  supervisors  of  the  whole  plan.  Unfortunately,  the  school 
has  not  been  able  to  give  these  two  important  experiments  sufiicient  supervision  to 
make  them  successful .  It  is  notable  in  most  of  the  Congo  schools  that  very  little  super- 
vision is  given  to  the  care  of  arrangements  for  eating  and  sleeping. 

Bolobo  Station — This  station,  founded  by  the  famous  missionary  statesman  and 
explorer,  George  Grenfell,  in  1888,  is  on  the  River  in  the  Middle  Congo  District.  The 
station  has  had  notable  influence  through  the  pioneer  service  of  Mr.  Grenfell  and  his 
successors.  The  staflf  consists  of  nine  workers,  three  men  and  six  women.  The  plant 
includes  six  residences,  four  of  which  are  brick;  a  substantial  brick  church  with  seating 
capacity  for  900;  a  building  with  seating  capacity  for  200,  for  general  purposes  and 
school;  an  old  church  building  used  for  the  classes  of  young  children;  a  hospital,  in- 
cluding two  wards  and  operating  room;  a  dispensary  with  large  open  pavillion  for 
waiting  patients;  a  brick  store  about  30  feet  square;  a  carpentry  and  chair-making 
shop;  a  printing  shop  and  machine  room;  a  dormitory  with  accommodations  for  100 
boys.  A  large  proportion  of  the  buildings  are  made  of  brick  with  roofs  of  corrugated 
iron.  The  rather  haphazard  arrangement  of  buildings  and  the  poor  state  of  repair 
reflect  the  origin  of  the  institution  in  pioneer  days  and  its  long  years  of  service. 


274 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


The  school  maintains  a  variety  of  activities,  inchiding  general  schoolwork,  indus- 
trial training,  and  medical  aid.  The  hoy's  school  provides  education  for  200  Native 
boys  and  young  men,  of  whom  85  are  employed  on  the  station.  The  school  hours 
are  from  2.30  to  5.00  in  the  afternoon.  The  teachers  are  six  Native  young  men  who 
read  fairly  well,  are  familiar  with  arithmetical  processes  through  division,  and  know 
Belgian  coinage.  The  school  program  consists  of  the  three  R's,  a  little  geography 
in  the  upper  class,  a  little  drawing,  and  some  French.  A  simple  textbook  in  hygiene 
has  been  prepared  by  the  medical  missionary  and  will  soon  be  used  in  the  classroom. 
The  work  is  under  the  supervision  of  one  of  the  European  women. 

Considerable  attention  is  given  to  the  training  of  women  and  girls.  In  addition 
to  the  regular  instruction  in  the  afternoon  school,  the  girls  who  are  boarding  at  the 
institution  are  assigned  to  the  various  families  for  training  in  home  activities  and  in 
special  work  related  to  the  life  of  the  Natives.  There  is  evident  need  for  better  facili- 
ties for  sleeping  and  more  supervision  of  girls'  work.  The  school  for  the  little  Native 
children  is  well  conducted  by  the  European  teacher  and  her  Native  assistants,  who 
show  considerable  skill  in  relating  the  instruction  to  the  needs  of  the  children.  There 
are  also  classes  for  older  women,  about  25  of  whom  come  three  times  a  week  for  instruc- 
tion relating  to  matters  of  their  home  life. 

The  station  is  widely  known  for  its  industrial  training.  The  making  of  rattan 
chairs  was  begun  at  Bolobo  in  1914  and  is  now  carried  on  by  other  schools  as  well  as 
by  the  Natives  in  villages  along  the  Congo  River.  The  35  boys  in  this  department 
are  selected  from  the  pupils  who  have  completed  one  year's  work  at  the  school.  Their 
remuneration  is  equal  to  the  value  of  their  food  and  clothing.  With  increase  of  skill 
they  receive  a  bonus.  The  maximum  time  of  service  is  four  years.  All  but  six  of  the 
boys  attend  the  afternoon  school.  Their  work  begins  at  6.30  and  continues  until  12 
o'clock,  with  one  hour  for  breakfast.  Other  industrial  activities  include  woodworking, 
a  two  years'  course  under  a  Native  journeyman,  and  printing  and  bookbinding 
covering  an  indefinite  period.  Eight  boys  were  engaged  in  the  woodworking  and 
about  twenty  in  printing  and  bookbinding.  The  small  industries  are  brick-making 
and  the  sawing  of  lumber.  Under  the  leadership  of  the  school  the  preparation  and 
sale  of  lumber  have  become  an  important  industry  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

The  hospital  and  clinic  are  exerting  great  influence  for  health  improvement  among 
many  Native  people.  The  medical  officer  in  charge  has  unusual  success  in  winning  the 
confidence  of  all  who  come  to  him.  His  medical  work  is  one  of  the  best  seen  in  Africa. 

The  station  has  between  90  and  100  outpost  schools,  about  equally  divided  into 
two  groups.  The  one  group  is  distributed  not  far  from  the  River,  with  Bolobo  as  the 
central  station.  The  other  group  is  in  the  region  of  LacLeopold  II,  a  considerable 
distance  away.  This  work  was  begun  by  a  capable  Native  who  started  Christian  ser- 
vices in  that  section  some  years  ago.  The  teachers  of  the  outpost  schools  are  brought 
to  Bolobo  for  periods  of  two  weeks  once  a  year.  They  are  in  the  main  former  workers 
and  pupils.  The  school  knowledge  of  most  of  them  is  limited  to  reading  and  the  arith- 
metical processes  of  adding  and  subtracting.  Owing  to  the  multiplicity  of  work  at 
the  central  station,  their  supervision  by  European  missionaries  has  been  insufficient. 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


278 


The  large  and  important  services  rendered  l)y  this  school  for  so  many  years  seem 
now  to  require  reorganization  in  order  to  be  better  coordinated  and  more  closely 
adapted  to  the  Native  communities.  While  it  is  desirable  to  train  a  few  Natives 
in  chair-making,  it  is  far  more  important  to  give  all  the  pupils  simple  training  in  the 
more  general  needs  of  the  Native  community.  Native  handicrafts  that  make  it  pos- 
sible for  the  outpost  teachers  to  improve  the  Native  dwellings  and  the  implements  for 
cultivating  the  soil  are  more  generally  useful  than  the  high  degree  of  skill  in  the  making 
of  chairs  desired  by  Europeans.  It  is  evident  that  the  first  responsibility  of  any  form 
of  hand-skill  is  in  the  repair  of  the  central  station,  including  pupils'  dormitories  and 
arrangements  for  eating.  Above  all,  technical  skill  in  soil  cultivation  should  receive 
vital  consideration  in  the  education  of  the  Natives.  Consideration  for  the  needs  of 
outpost  teachers  and  community  leaders  requires  more  regard  for  the  selection  of 
promising  pupils  to  receive  advanced  instruction  in  religious  life,  as  well  as  in  general 
school  subjects.  In  this  respect  Bolobo  requires  the  same  reorganization  as  the  other 
institutions  visited.  There  is  also  the  demand  for  a  more  systematic  supervision  of 
the  outpost  schools. 

American  Baptist  Mission  Society 

The  American  Baptists  maintain  seven  stations  in  Belgian  Congo.  In  addition, 
the  Kimpese  Institute  is  maintained  jointly  with  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 
All  of  these  stations  are  on  or  near  the  Congo  River.  Kimpese  and  four  other  sta- 
tions are  in  the  Lower  Congo  District.  Vanga  is  the  only  Protestant  station  in  a  large 
area  on  Kwilu  River,  a  branch  of  the  Kasai.  Tshumbiri  is  on  the  Congo  River  not 
far  from  Bolobo  and  Ntondo  is  on  a  beautiful  lake  in  the  Equatorial  District.  The 
oldest  station  was  founded  in  1878.  Four  of  the  missionaries  still  on  the  field  have 
rendered  forty  years  of  faithful  service  for  the  religious  and  educational  development 
of  the  Lower  Congo. 

Congo  Evangelical  Training  Institute — The  Congo  Evangelical  Training  Institute 
at  Kimpese  is  maintained  jointly  by  the  British  and  American  Baptist  Societies  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  special  training  to  religious  and  educational  workers.  The  plan 
makes  this  institution  the  central  school  for  the  schools  of  the  Lower  Congo,  including 
the  British  Baptist  missions  in  Portuguese  Angola.  Most  of  these  schools  offer  instruc- 
tion equal  to  about  three  or  four  years,  including  reading  and  writing  the  Native  lan- 
guage, through  multiplication  in  arithmetic,  Bible,  and  simple  practice  in  gardening, 
brickwork,  and  carpentry.  The  Kimpese  Institute  offers  school  instruction  for  two 
or  three  years  beyond  that  of  the  other  boarding  schools.  In  addition,  the  plan  pro- 
vides special  training  in  religious  work,  methods  of  teaching,  sanitation  and  first  aid, 
French,  agriculture,  and  industrial  training.  With  the  progress  of  the  other  boarding 
schools,  Kimpese  intends  to  advance  its  course  until  it  includes  the  essentials  of 
secondary  education  and  more  complete  instruction  and  practice  in  rehgious  activities 
and  community  service. 

The  staff  of  the  institute  includes  three  representatives  of  the  American  mission 
and  two  of  the  British  mission.  One  of  the  American  representatives  is  a  physician 
and  the  other  two  have  had  training  and  experience  in  community  education.  The 


276 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


British  missionaries  represent  the  best  educational  training  and  experience  of  Great 
Britain.  Each  mission  maintains  residences  for  its  own  workers.  The  remainder 
of  the  plant  is  owned  jointly  by  the  missions.  The  plant  is  located  not  far  from  the 
Matadi-Kinshasa  Railroad,  in  an  attractive  valley  with  considerable  areas  of  fertile 
soil.  The  main  buildings  are:  three  residences  for  Europeans,  a  chapel  which  is  also 
used  for  classes,  a  shop  for  carpentry  and  repair  work,  a  small  building  used  as  a 
classroom,  seventeen  small  brick  buildings  with  accommodations  for  34  families. 
Each  has  two  rooms  and  a  separate  cook-house  back  of  the  buildings.  Possibly  the 
most  interesting  feature  of  the  plant  is  the  provision  for  family  gardens,  where  each 
family  is  expected  to  raise  vegetables  for  its  own  support.  Each  garden  is  about  two 
and  one-half  acres  in  size.  Cultivating  implements  are  sold  at  cost  by  the  school. 
Methods  are  carefully  supervised  and  accounts  are  kept. 

The  course  of  instruction  covers  three  years  of  study  and  work.  The  men  attend 
school  from  6.30  in  the  morning  until  noon.  The  subjects  are  the  Bible,  church  his- 
tory, sermon  preparation,  physiology  and  hygiene,  nature  study,  arithmetic,  reading, 
and  French.  In  the  afternoon  the  men  work  in  the  garden  or  workshop,  or  they  teach 
in  the  practice-school,  which  contains  chiefly  their  own  children.  The  women  attend 
school  two  or  three  hours  a  day  and  receive  instruction  in  reading  and  writing,  the 
Bible,  hygiene  (including  care  of  children  and  treatment  of  simple  ailments)  household 
activities,  gardening,  raising  of  chickens  and  rabbits,  and  the  care  of  goats.  The  chil- 
dren attend  school  in  the  afternoon  and  work  about  their  homes  and  in  the  gardens 
in  the  morning.  The  plan  of  the  institution  provides  for  the  education  and  training 
of  the  whole  family.  The  needs  of  the  Native  communities  to  which  the  families  are 
to  go  largely  determine  the  character  of  the  training  given  at  the  station.  This  insti- 
tute and  the  Kingoyi  Institute  of  the  Swedish  Mission  are  the  only  educational  insti- 
tutions in  Congo  that  are  definitely  planned  to  give  advanced  training  to  pupils  from 
other  schools. 

Ntondo  Station,  Lake  Turaba — The  notable  feature  of  theNtondo  Station  is  its  attrac- 
tive plant.  In  the  construction  of  buildings  and  the  arrangement  of  roads  and  gar- 
dens, this  plant  is  probably  the  best  the  Commission  observed  in  Africa.  It  is  located 
on  a  beautiful  lake.  All  of  the  important  buildings  command  a  view  of  the  lake  and 
benefit  by  the  refreshing  breezes  of  the  pleasant  waters,  extending  for  miles  in  front  of 
them.  Each  street  is  devoted  to  some  of  the  typical  fruit  trees  of  the  country.  On 
the  waterfront  is  Cocoanut  Avenue.  Parallel  to  this  are  Orange,  Mango,  and  Palm 
Avenues.  The  station  is  noted  for  its  abundance  of  fruits,  vegetables,  and 
flowers.  The  buildings,  practically  all  of  brick,  include  four  residences,  a  beautiful 
church  and  school  building,  an  industrial  building,  a  dispensary  of  three  rooms,  a  brick 
kiln,  and  two  old  frame  buildings  that  are  being  replaced  by  a  substantial  brick 
dormitory  for  the  girls.  One  residence  is  famous  for  its  lawn,  the  only  one  seen  in 
Central  Africa.  The  industrial  building  has  a  ten-horsepower  engine,  considerable 
woodworking  machinery,  and  several  well-fitted  work  benches. 

The  staff  of  the  institution  consists  of  seven  American  workers.  The  station  main- 
tains the  usual  classroom  work  and  gives  special  attention  to  instruction  in  wood- 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


277 


working  and  gardening.  Teachers  of  the  50  outpost  schools  are  brought  to  the  central 
station  for  a  month  each  year.  Between  30  and  40  teachers  are  also  l)rought  in  groups 
of  eight  for  three  months'  training  of  industrial,  literary,  and  religious  type.  These 
pupil  teachers  work  in  the  carpentry  shop  from  G.30  to  11  and  attend  school  in  the 
afternoon.  Those  who  continue  this  training  for  four  years  receive  a  certificate  and  a 
set  of  carpenter's  tools.  An  effort  is  made  to  visit  the  outposts  once  or  twice  a  year. 
The  girls  at  the  station  attend  school  in  the  afternoon  and  work  under  the  direction 
of  the  American  women  the  remainder  of  the  day.  The  station  physician  has  had  a 
marked  influence  on  the  health  and  general  life  of  the  communities.  This  missionary 
is  not  only  a  physician,  but  a  worker  who  is  skilled  in  activities  necessary  for  im- 
proving Native  communities. 

Tshumhiri  Station — Tshumbiri  Station,  located  on  the  Congo  River,  is  one  of  the 
small  centers.  The  organization  of  the  work  is  unique  in  its  provision  for  the  home 
training  of  the  girls  and  for  the  emphasis  placed  on  Native  needs.  The  girls'  dormitory 
is  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  a  Native  woman  who  directs  and  encourages 
the  girls  to  sound  standards  of  life.  Under  her  direction  the  girls  provide  all  their  own 
food  through  gardening.  They  are  also  instructed  in  sewing,  mat-making,  and  other 
Native  industries.  The  boys  and  young  men  attend  school  in  the  morning  and 
engage  in  various  forms  of  industry  in  the  afternoon.  The  principal  industry  is  the 
making  of  bricks,  for  which  the  school  is  widely  known.  They  are  also  taught  to  make 
baskets  and  floor  mats,  and  occasionally  they  receive  instruction  in  the  making  of 
soap,  palm  oil,  and  syrup.  The  station  maintains  outpost  schools  and  provides  for 
their  supervision.  The  plan  to  enlarge  the  agricultural  activities  of  the  institution  will 
add  greatly  to  its  value.  The  work  was  supervised  by  an  American  man  and  his  wife, 
whose  duties  were  far  too  numerous.  The  new  agricultural  worker  already  ap- 
pointed will  bring  much  needed  relief. 

Sona  Bata  Station — Sona  Bata  in  Lower  Congo  is  the  center  of  a  large  population. 
The  usual  staff  consists  of  four  Americans.  The  two  married  couples  in  charge  of 
this  station  are  notable  for  their  long  missionary  service,  an  average  of  35  years  for 
each.  The  plant  is  in  the  form  of  a  hollow  square,  well  arranged  with  trees,  gardens, 
and  walks.  The  main  buildings  are  a  large  brick  church,  two  attractive  mission 
residences,  and  a  smaller  residence,  with  two  rooms,  school  building,  dispensary,  and 
dormitories  for  boys  and  for  girls.  Altogether  there  are  twenty-one  buildings  of  vari- 
ous sizes,  nineteen  of  them  brick.  The  activities  include  the  usual  school  work, 
fairly  extensive  hospital  and  dispensary,  now  maintained  without  a  physician,  and 
the  supervision  of  station  outschools.  It  is  evident  that  the  staff  and  equipment  of 
this  station  should  be  enlarged  and  provision  made  for  industrial  training  and  the 
continuation  of  medical  work. 

Matadi  Mission  Stations 

The  Protestant  activities  in  the  city  of  Matadi  are  chiefly  concerned  with  the 
reception  and  departure  of  missionaries.  Separate  stations  are  maintained  by  British 
and  American  Baptists  and  the  Swedish  Mission.   Each  mission  engages  in  a  Umited 


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amount  of  educational  and  religious  work  for  the  Natives  of  the  town.  One  mission 
has  a  dispensary  to  which  a  number  of  Natives  come.  In  view  of  the  large  number 
of  Natives  in  Matadi  and  the  many  temptations  to  which  they  are  subjected,  it  is 
evident  that  the  three  missions  should  cooperate  to  organize  an  effective  work  related 
to  the  urban  conditions  of  this  largest  port  of  entry  for  the  whole  Congo.  In  this 
connection,  it  is  necessary  to  report  that  the  Protestant  missions  do  not  seem  to  have 
made  an  adequate  effort  to  deal  with  any  of  the  urban  groups  in  the  colony.  The 
important  towns  requiring  adaptation  and  enlargement  of  activities  are  Boma, 
Matadi,  Kinshasa,  Leopoldville,  Stanleyville,  and  Elisabethville.  The  almost  entire 
absence  of  effective  Protestant  schools  in  these  Congo  towns  is  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  centering  of  mission  schools  in  the  urban  areas  of  British  West  Africa. 

Swedish  Mission 

The  Swedish  Mission  maintains  five  stations  in  Belgian  Congo  and  five  others  in 
French  Congo.  The  Belgian  stations  are  in  the  Lower  Congo  District.  The  staffs 
include  men  and  women  of  good  general  education,  who  are  genuinely  interested  in 
school  work.  Many  of  them  are  skilled  in  handicrafts  and  the  cultivation  of  the  soil. 
Their  activities  include  the  usual  classroom  instruction  and  considerable  training  in 
woodworking,  gardening,  and  Native  crafts.  The  influence  of  the  missions  makes 
for  the  development  of  hygienic  conditions,  for  ability  in  the  use  of  the  soil,  and  for  the 
general  improvement  of  Native  life.  The  station  buildings  and  the  well-ordered 
plants  reflect  the  thrift,  industry,  good  taste,  and  sound  ideas  for  which  Swedish 
people  are  well  known.  The  Swedish  Mission  in  its  record  of  service  extending  forty 
years  is  also  well  known  for  its  persistent  and  laborious  efforts  to  issue  books  and 
pamphlets  in  the  Native  languages.  The  Gospel  of  St.  John  appeared  in  1884,  the 
New  Testament  in  1891,  and  the  Bible,  published  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  in  1905.  Some  notable  works  in  Kikongo  are  the  Illustrated  Geography  and 
Natural  History,  and  the  Elementary  Grammar.  Of  special  value  is  the  paper 
Minsamu  Miayenge  (Message  of  Peace),  pubHshed  every  fortnight. 

Disciples  of  Christ  Congo  Mission 

The  Disciples  of  Christ  maintain  four  stations  in  the  Equatorial  District.  The 
society  took  over  this  area  from  the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
about  1899.  The  work  has  been  approached  with  vigor.  Many  excellent  workers 
have  come  from  America  to  devote  their  energies  to  the  hygienic,  educational,  and 
religious  development  of  the  Natives.  The  workers  are  men  and  women  of  good  edu- 
cation, progressive  ideas,  and  a  variety  of  skill  necessary  in  dealing  with  the  numerous 
needs  of  the  region.  It  is  noteworthy  that  each  of  the  four  stations  has  a  physician 
on  its  staff.  Two  agricultural  workers  are  now  on  the  way  from  America  to  direct 
agricultural  education  and  the  rural  activities  already  initiated.  Modern  machinery 
has  been  bought,  including  a  tractor,  costing  $3,000,  and  a  mile  of  wire  fencing  costing 
$2,000,  to  make  possible  the  intensive  cultivation  of  a  demonstration  area  near  the 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


279 


government  center  of  tlic  Equatorial  District.  This  provision  is  typical  of  the  pro- 
gressive spirit  which  the  mission  is  showing  in  a  number  of  directions.  Other  forms  of 
this  spirit  appear  in  the  activities  which  have  won  the  confidence  of  the  Colonial  Gov- 
ernment, in  successful  cooperation  with  other  missions,  and  in  the  active  j)articipation 
of  the  mission  in  all  the  general  movements  for  the  improvement  of  the  colony.  To 
take  advantage  of  the  many  navigable  rivers  that  penetrate  the  mission  field,  the  soci- 
ety early  supplied  the  mission  with  a  first-class  steamer  with  capacity  for  several  i)as- 
sengers  and  much  freight.  This  steamer  has  been  of  great  value  not  only  to  the  Dis- 
ciples' Mission  but  to  the  general  cause  of  missions  along  the  Congo  River.  Two  new 
launches,  costing  $10,000,  have  already  been  shipped  from  America  to  make  possible 
more  effective  supervision  of  the  stations. 

Bolenge  Station — Bolenge  Station,  located  directly  on  the  equator,  is  the  headquar- 
ters of  the  Disciples'  activities  in  the  Congo.  The  staff  consists  of  four  Americans 
and  their  wives,  all  thoroughly  prepared  for  their  work.  The  plant  consists  of  four  resi- 
dences, a  church,  a  hospital,  a  school  building  of  five  rooms,  Native  workers'  houses 
with  20  rooms  and  accommodations  for  40  persons,  a  girls'  compound  with  16  rooms, 
a  woodworking  shed,  a  brick  plant,  and  considerable  land.  A  large,  substantial,  and 
well-planned  industrial  building  of  brick  has  been  completed  and  will  soon  be  equipped 
with  machinery  for  various  kinds  of  woodworking.  The  machinery,  costing  $10,000, 
includes  a  sawmill,  planer,  jointer,  and  re-saw  machine.  The  plant,  taken  over  from 
another  organization,  is  now  being  rebuilt  with  extensive  changes  and  improvements 
already  authorized  by  the  home  board. 

The  activities  of  the  station  are  a  morning  school  for  all  Natives,  beginning  at 
6.20  and  continuing  for  an  hour  and  a  quarter;  a  primary  school  from  10.00  to  11.45; 
an  afternoon  school  for  advanced  pupils  from  2.30  to  4.30;  and  a  school  for  girls  who 
are  assigned  to  school  activities  according  to  their  age  and  work  under  the  direction 
of  the  American  women  in  home  activities  and  Native  crafts.  The  missionary  physi- 
cian divides  his  time  between  health  activities  and  other  responsibilities  in  the  mission. 
With  the  arrival  of  the  specialist  in  agriculture  and  industry  the  school  program 
will  provide  regular  training  in  these  directions. 

The  station  has  122  outpost  schools  with  158  teachers.  One  missionary  devotes 
a  large  part  of  his  time  to  supervision  of  these  outposts.  Ten  Native  supervisors  assist 
in  this  task.  Hitherto  the  supervision  has  been  entirely  inadequate.  The  plan  re- 
quires that  all  of  the  teachers  shall  be  brought  to  the  central  station  for  periods  of  from 
two  to  four  weeks  once  every  six  months. 

With  the  extensive  and  important  improvements  in  plant  and  method  of  work  now 
being  made,  the  station  gives  some  evidences  of  the  confusion  and  lack  of  effectiveness 
to  be  expected  at  such  a  time.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  the 
devoted  and  well-trained  workers  will  be  able  to  strengthen  the  supervision  of  the 
outposts  and  carry  through  the  excellent  plans  now  in  process.  Since  this  is  the  central 
station  of  the  Disciples'  Mission,  definite  plans  should  be  adopted  to  give  advanced 
training  to  selected  pupils  from  all  the  stations.  The  proximity  to  the  government 
headquarters  and  location  on  the  main  river  make  it  desirable  that  every  educational 


280 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


activity  shall  be  organized  as  a  demonstration  of  educational  possibilities  for  this  part 
of  the  colony. 

Lotumha  Station — Lotumba  Station  has  eight  American  workers.  The  mission 
physician  and  a  trained  nurse  are  exerting  a  strong  influence  on  the  health  conditions 
of  the  district.  The  plant  consists  of  three  residences,  a  hospital,  workmen's  houses, 
and  a  girls'  house  under  the  direction  of  a  Native  woman.  In  addition  to  regular 
school  work  provision  is  made  for  the  making  of  bricks,  carpentry,  and  cultivation  of 
gardens.  Possibly  the  most  important  work  of  the  station  is  the  school  for  the  training 
of  Native  health  workers.  This  course  consists  of  training  continuing  for  periods  of 
six  months  to  a  year.  The  first  Natives  to  receive  this  training  were  selected  from 
the  more  advanced  pupils  of  the  schools.  The  station  has  150  outposts  with  about 
200  teachers,  of  whom  eight  are  acting  as  superintendents.  Two  of  the  American 
missionaries  endeavor  to  visit  these  outposts  once  in  six  months  and  effort  is  made  to 
bring  all  the  teachers  to  the  school  once  in  six  months. 

Monieke  Station— The  American  staff  at  the  Monieke  Station  consists  of  five  per- 
sons, two  married  couples,  and  one  single  woman.  The  plant  includes  two  houses 
and  a  cottage  for  the  missionary  staff,  a  hospital,  and  temporary  quarters  for  the  Na- 
tive pupils  and  workers.  The  regular  school  work  at  this  station  has  been  organized 
with  considerable  care.  The  industrial  and  agricultural  activities  are  limited  to  those 
necessary  in  the  building  and  upkeep  of  the  plant  and  food  requirements  of  the  station. 
The  outpost  schools  are  45  in  number,  with  60  Native  teachers. 

Mondomhe  Station — Mondombe  Station  is  a  new  work,  begun  only  a  year  ago. 
The  staff  consists  of  two  married  couples  and  a  single  woman,  and  the  plant  is  limited 
to  one  residence  for  the  missionaries.  The  physician  is  planning  important  health 
work,  and  Native  teachers  are  organizing  outpost  schools. 

American  Presbyterian  Mission 

The  American  Presbyterian  Congo  Mission  is  maintained  by  the  Southern  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  the  United  States.  The  work,  begun  in  1890,  is  located  in  the 
Kasai  region,  noted  for  the  fertility  of  its  soil  and  its  wealth  of  mineral  products.  The 
effect  of  the  mission  on  the  Native  people  is  one  of  the  most  notable  mission  achieve- 
ments in  Belgian  Congo.  Hitherto  the  society  has  wisely  limited  its  activities  to  a 
comparatively  small  area,  with  the  result  that  it  has  succeeded  in  exerting  a  marked 
influence  on  the  life  of  the  Natives.  Luebo,  the  first  station,  organized  in  1891,  con- 
tinued as  the  only  station  for  over  twenty  years.  Within  the  past  five  years  four  new 
stations  have  been  added.  The  mission  is  fortunate  not  only  in  the  fertile  character 
of  the  country  and  the  splendid  type  of  Native,  but  also  in  the  fact  that  one  language 
is  almost  universally  understood  by  all  the  tribes  in  the  region.  \\Taile  the  educational 
activities  have  been  of  a  very  simple  character  and  not  well  organized,  the  other 
mission  activities  have  been  very  directly  related  to  the  economic,  hygienic,  and  re- 
ligious elements  of  Native  life. 

Luebo  Station — The  staff  of  the  Luebo  Station  consists  of  seventeen  Americans, 
including  a  doctor,  a  bursar,  and  an  industrial  teacher.   The  plant  consists  of  ten  mis- 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


281 


sionary  residences,  some  of  burnt  brick  and  some  of  adobe;  a  Iiospital,  partially 
destroyed  by  fire  but  now  in  process  of  rebuilding;  a  j)rinting  house,  library,  and  office 
building;  a  large  storehouse;  an  industrial  building;  recitation  rooms;  large  sheds  for 
day  pui)ils  and  Sunday  services;  small  houses  for  boarding  pupils;  a  saw-mill;  brick 
and  tile  works. 

The  activities  are  a  day  school  for  700  small  children;  a  boarding  school  for  about 
90  girls;  a  boarding  school  for  Natives  planning  to  become  evangelists;  an  industrial 
school  for  about  90  boys;  and  medical  classes  for  about  15  boys.  The  day  school  is 
supervised  by  two  missionaries,  who  have  only  recently  come  from  America.  Native 
assistants  are  of  very  limited  training,  not  more  than  the  equivalent  of  the  third  or 
fourth  grade.  In  the  lower  standards  the  enrollment  is  large  and  the  division  between 
boys  and  girls  is  about  equal.  The  shrinkage  in  the  upper  classes  is  very  rapid,  so 
that  in  the  fourth  year,  the  highest  class,  there  are  only  26.  There  are  no  desks  for 
the  day  pupils  and  many  pupils  do  not  have  benches.  The  instruction  is  concerned 
chiefly  with  reading  and  writing,  with  comparatively  little  emphasis  on  agriculture 
and  hygiene.  The  boarding  pupils  attend  school  at  the  same  time  as  the  day  pupils. 
They  are  young  men  who  have  had  some  instruction  in  the  outstations  and  plan  to 
stay  at  Luebo  one  or  two  years  in  preparation  for  their  work  as  evangelists  and 
teachers.  Their  instruction  is  chiefly  in  the  Bible,  with  some  training  in  the  three  R's. 
The  medical  work  is  under  the  charge  of  a  doctor  and  a  trained  nurse.  The  dispensary 
and  hospital  are  in  constant  use,  but  the  work  is  hampered  by  lack  of  equipment  and 
medicines.  A  few  pupils  are  receiving  training  in  the  hospital. 

The  industrial  school  is  entirely  separate  from  the  day  school.  Most  of  the  90 
pupils  are  boarders.  A  knowledge  of  the  three  R's  and  a  payment  of  a  small  fee  are 
required  for  entrance.  The  pupils  work  six  hours  in  the  morning  and  attend  school 
two  hours  in  the  afternoon.  They  are  engaged  chiefly  in  the  construction  and  repair  of 
buildings  and  the  making  of  furniture.  For  this  they  receive  their  board  and  cloth- 
ing. On  the  completion  of  three  years  of  training,  they  receive  a  set  of  tools  and  are 
then  sent  out  to  assist  in  building  up  mission  stations,  or  they  enter  the  employment 
of  commercial  concerns.  Of  the  90  industrial  pupils,  63  are  in  carpentry,  12  in  masonry, 
12  in  shoemaking,  and  3  in  tailoring.  The  shoemaking  includes  the  processes  of  tan- 
ning as  well  as  the  repairing  and  making  of  shoes.  Some  instruction  is  also  offered  in 
blacksmithing,  broom-making,  and  ivory  carving.  The  saw-mill,  located  about  two  or 
three  miles  away,  includes  a  saw,  planer,  and  corn  mill,  all  of  which  are  run  by  a  forty- 
horsepower  steam  engine.  There  is  also  a  brick  and  tile  plant  with  necessary  machin- 
ery. The  printing  press,  employing  nine  Natives,  is  kept  busy  with  the  mission  print- 
ing. The  mission  has  obtained  a  concession  for  a  farm,  but  its  cultivation  is  waiting 
a  missionary  trained  in  agriculture.  The  mission  recognizes  the  importance  of  agri- 
cultiu-al  and  industrial  training.  With  all  the  splendid  accomplishments  of  this  mis- 
sion station,  there  is  evident  need  for  a  more  effective  organization  of  its  educational 
activities.  Fortunately,  the  home  society  and  the  local  missionaries  are  keenly  aware 
of  the  situation  and  are  now  instituting  plans  for  the  advanced  training  of  selected 
pupils  who  will  assist  in  directing  the  many  outstation  schools. 


282 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Mutolo  Training  Center — Mutoto  is  a  mission  station  and  a  center  for  the  training 
of  religious  workers  and  teachers.  The  course  covers  three  years.  As  yet  the  work  is 
very  elementary.  The  plant  consists  of  four  residences  and  two  brick  buildings 
for  the  students.  Many  of  the  students  are  married  and  live  in  the  village.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  the  society  will  provide  education  of  advanced  grade  either  at  this  insti- 
tution or  at  Luebo.  It  is  clear  that  the  great  mission  work  of  the  society  requires 
Native  leaders  of  more  than  elementary  training  to  assist  in  the  direction  of  the  Native 
churches  and  the  outstation  schools. 

Southern  Methodist  Mission 

The  Southern  Methodist  Congo  Mission  from  America  has  only  recently  begun  its 
work  in  the  Sankuru  District  of  the  Congo.  This  district  is  occupied  by  a  large  popu- 
lation of  capable  Natives  who  are  yet  very  primitive  and  in  many  instances  quite 
barbaric.  The  mission  has  before  it  a  large  area  that  has  not  been  reached  by  any 
Protestant  missions.  The  work  is  as  yet  limited  to  two  stations.  At  Wemba  Niama 
there  are  four  buildings  for  the  American  workers,  a  church,  a  small  dormitory  for  boys 
and  another  for  girls,  a  hospital,  a  workshop  of  three  rooms,  and  a  brick  kiln.  Grad- 
ually the  mud  houses  are  being  replaced  by  brick  structures.  The  staff  consists  of 
eight  workers,  four  men  and  four  women,  and  about  ten  Native  teachers.  The  pupils 
number  100,  of  whom  about  a  fourth  are  girls.  The  instruction  is  necessarily  very 
simple.  The  other  station  at  Lubefu,  several  days'  journey  away,  is  under  the  direc- 
tion of  one  American  couple  and  several  Native  workers.  The  progressive  and  vigorous 
policies  of  the  Southern  Methodist  Mission  give  every  promise  of  a  rapid  and  satis- 
factory development  in  this  important  area  of  the  Congo. 

Northern  Methodist  Mission 

The  activities  of  the  Northern  Methodist  Congo  Mission  from  America  were  begun 
in  the  Katanga  area  about  1911.  The  Katanga  Province  is  an  elevated  plateau  ranging 
from  1,000  to  5,000  feet  in  height  and  very  rich  in  copper  and  other  valuable  minerals. 
The  rapid  development  of  the  copper  mines  and  quarries  has  resulted  in  a  decided  con- 
centration of  population  at  Elisabethville,  Kambove,  and  other  smaller  centers.  Mis- 
sion work  in  the  Katanga  is  divided  into  two  distinct  types.  One  type  is  concerned 
with  the  great  masses  of  Native  people  who  have  been  brought  long  distances  in 
Central  Africa  to  work  in  the  mines.  Provision  for  the  hygienic,  social,  and  religious 
life  of  these  Native  masses  involves  both  a  great  responsibility  and  a  great  oppor- 
tunity, as  will  be  shown  in  connection  with  the  work  at  Elisabethville  and  Kambove. 
The  second  line  of  work  relates  to  the  extensive  rural  areas  of  this  province.  The  fer- 
tile soil  and  the  favorable  climate  have  made  possible  a  large  population  in  the  Ka- 
tanga. The  Methodist  Mission  has  begun  work  for  the  rural  Natives  at  two  stations 
far  removed  from  each  other  and  far  removed  from  the  railroad  and  urban  centers. 
The  conditions  both  in  the  mine  areas  and  the  rural  sections  suggest  the  great  oppor- 
tunity for  the  Methodist  Women's  Board  to  provide  facilities  for  the  education  of 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


Native  girls  and  also  for  the  development  of  one  institution  which  shall  he  the  central 
station  for  the  whole  Katanga  area. 

Elisabethvllle  Station — The  possibilities  of  mission  work  in  and  immediately  about 
Elisabethville  surpass  those  in  any  part  of  Central  Africa.  Elisabcthville  is  itself  a 
city  of  considerable  size,  the  political  capital  of  the  richest  area  of  Central  Africa  and 
an  industrial  center  of  great  significance.  The  smelting  works  employ  5,000  Natives 
who  live  in  compounds  provided  by  the  company.  Through  the  combined  interest 
of  the  government  and  the  mining  company,  these  camps  are  maintained  according 
to  sound  hygienic  principles.  In  addition  to  the  mining  compounds,  considerable 
groups  of  people  are  in  the  Native  town  "locations,"  which  include  the  employees 
of  the  railroad  and  commercial  concerns;  detention  camps  at  which  Natives  are  kept 
when  they  first  arrive  or  when  they  are  leaving,  if  for  any  reason  they  are  not  in  good 
health;  a  military  camp  of  500  soldiers;  a  brick  manufacturer's  compound  of  GOO  Na- 
tives. It  is  evident  that  the  coming  and  going  of  these  many  Natives  furnish  an  oppor- 
tunity for  a  great  human  service  in  their  behalf. 

At  the  time  of  visit  the  Methodist  Mission  had  three  American  workers  at  Elisa- 
bethville. The  station  serves  as  the  headquarters  for  the  Katanga  work  and  main- 
tains a  morning  school  in  the  vernacular  for  children,  and  afternoon  school  for  women 
and  children,  a  night  school  to  teach  French,  a  church,  and  visitation  of  Natives  in  the 
compounds.  The  plant  consists  of  a  residence  on  one  of  the  best  sites  in  the  city  and  a 
well-constructed  building  which  is  used  as  school  and  church.  This  building  has  two 
or  three  additions  which  are  used  as  offices  and  classrooms.  The  location  of  this 
building  is  suitable  for  work  among  the  Natives.  In  view  of  the  urban  character  of 
this  district  and  the  special  needs  of  large  groups  of  Natives  in  compounds,  the  activi- 
ties of  the  mission  require  reorganization  and  enlargement  of  equipment  and  staflf. 
Johannesburg  as  an  older  and  larger  center  undoubtedly  furnishes  valuable  sug- 
gestion for  the  future  development  of  this  work. 

Kamhove  and  Panda  Mines — The  Kambove  and  Panda  Mines  are  located  about 
eighty  miles  away  from  Elisabethville.  Kambove  is  a  smaller  town  and  the  head- 
quarters of  copper  mines  and  commercial  concerns  employing  almost  5,000  Natives. 
Panda,  fifteen  miles  away,  is  a  recent  development  at  which  a  great  copper  concentrat- 
ing plant  is  located.  This  plant  employs  6,000  Natives  and  250  white  men.  The  Native 
compound  is  well  managed  by  a  Belgian  ofiicer.  In  addition  to  the  Natives  of  the  con- 
centration works,  there  are  fully  4,000  other  Natives  employed  in  the  railroad  works 
and  the  lime  deposits.  The  mission  activities  for  these  two  great  centers  are  under  the 
charge  of  the  Kambove  station,  fifteen  miles  away  from  Panda.  The  mission  staff 
at  the  time  of  visit  consisted  of  one  married  couple.  The  plant,  delightfully  located 
at  one  side  of  Kambove,  consists  of  small,  rather  primitive  buildings,  constructed 
of  sun-dried  bricks.  There  is  one  house  for  the  missionary  family,  and  six  or  seven 
one-room  structures  for  guest  rooms  and  sleeping  quarters  for  the  Native  boys.  The 
educational  work  at  the  station  is  of  comparatively  small  importance  and  limited  to 
about  ten  boarding  boys  and  ten  day  pupils.  The  main  work  of  the  missionaries  is  the 
visitation  of  the  great  compounds.   It  is  evident  that  mission  activities  in  the  Kam- 


284 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


bove  and  Panda  areas  require  reorganization  of  practically  the  same  character  as  that 
of  Elisabethville.  The  influences  exerted  on  the  Natives  brought  to  these  centers  will 
be  carried  back  to  almost  every  part  of  Central  Africa. 

Kabongo  and  Kapanga  Stations — These  two  stations,  with  a  beginning  at  Kinda, 
are  located  twenty  days'  trek  away  from  Elisabethville  and  almost  an  equal  distance 
from  each  other.  They  represent  the  work  of  the  Methodist  Mission  in  the  rural  areas. 
Kabongo,  opened  in  1917,  is  now  conducted  by  two  married  couples  from  America 
and  a  physician  who  has  left  America  for  this  field.  There  are  two  mission  residences. 
The  enrollment  is  about  65  pupils,  divided  into  three  grades  of  school  work.  Twelve 
of  the  pupils  board  at  the  school  and  twelve  in  the  Native  village.  The  morning  is 
spent  m  gardening  and  woodworking  and  the  afternoon  in  school.  The  mission  is 
exerting  a  decided  influence  on  the  character  and  health  of  the  Natives.  Kapanga, 
organized  in  1914,  is  directed  by  three  American  couples  and  one  nurse.  One  of  the 
men  is  a  physician.  There  are  about  150  pupils  in  three  grades  of  school  work.  The 
day  is  divided  between  classroom  instruction  and  work  in  gardening  and  carpentry, 
taught  by  a  Native  graduate  of  a  Congregational  school  in  Angola.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  Angola  Natives  are  repatriated  slaves  who  had  been  sold  into  slavery  by 
the  Native  traders.  All  reports  indicate  that  the  work  of  these  rural  stations  is  well 
planned  and  related  to  the  needs  of  the  life  of  the  Natives.  There  is,  however,  great 
demand  for  more  equipment  and  especially  for  teachers  of  agriculture  and  simple 
industries. 

Other  Mission  Societies 

It  is  unfortunate  that  no  adequate  description  can  be  given  of  all  the  Protestant 
societies  working  in  Belgian  Congo.  Some  of  these  societies  have  been  omitted  because 
they  were  not  visited  and  no  report  could  be  obtained  of  their  educational  work. 
Others  have  been  omitted  because  their  chief  work  is  evangelistic  and  practically  no 
provision  is  made  for  school  activities.  The  educational  value  of  evangelistic  work 
is  emphatically  recognized.  This  work  usually  includes  the  teaching  of  reading  and 
many  essentials  of  daily  life.  Quite  apart  from  the  direct  efforts  of  religious  or  edu- 
cational endeavors,  the  influence  of  the  missionary  and  his  family  is  of  great  value. 

The  Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance  in  the  Lower  Congo  occupies  the  area 
north  of  Boma.  The  station  in  the  city  of  Boma  is  the  headquarters  of  the  missions 
and  renders  valuable  service  to  missionaries  of  all  denominations  who  come  to  the 
political  capital  of  the  colony.  The  station  conducts  religious  work  for  the  Natives 
of  the  city.  The  four  rural  stations  are  under  the  direction  of  devoted  American 
missionaries  who  are  exerting  strong  influence  upon  Native  life.  As  yet  the  mission 
has  given  comparatively  little  attention  to  school  activities.  Present  plans  provide 
for  increasing  emphasis  upon  education  of  the  Native. 

The  Congo  Balolo  Mission  maintains  several  stations  in  the  Lulongo  District 
on  one  of  the  great  southern  branches  of  the  Upper  Congo  River.  The  mission  has 
seven  stations  with  a  very  limited  amount  of  school  work  at  most  of  them.  The 
mission  is  now  recognizing  the  essential  value  of  education  and  is  planning  to  increase 
this  part  of  its  program. 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


285 


The  Belgian  Protestant  Mission  has  only  recently  entered  the  Rnanda-Urundi 
Districts  taken  over  by  the  Belgian  Government  from  German  East  Africa.  The 
society  is  rapidly  reopening  the  stations  closed  by  the  war  and  is  providing  for  every 
type  of  mission  work.  The  society  is  progressive  and  recognizes  fully  the  importance 
of  educational  activities  related  to  the  life  of  the  Natives. 

The  African  Inland  Mission  and  the  Heart  of  Africa  Mission  have  been  briefly 
described  in  connection  with  the  Protestant  occupation  of  the  Eastern  Province.  The 
interest  of  the  African  Inland  Mission  in  education  and  agriculture  has  been  generally 
recognized.  The  Heart  of  Africa  Mission  is  said  to  limit  its  work  quite  largely  to  evan- 
gelistic activities. 

The  Congo  Inland  Mission,  representing  the  Mennonite  Church  of  America,  is  in 
the  southwestern  section  of  the  Kasai  District.  The  work,  begun  about  ten  years 
ago,  has  three  stations  under  the  direction  of  American  missionaries.  The  one  station 
visited  has  four  missionaries.  The  plant  consists  of  two  small  brick  residences,  a 
brick  church,  a  school,  shed,  small  houses  for  boys  and  girls,  a  dispensary,  and  a 
carpenter  shop.  The  enrollment  of  the  school  is  150  and  the  instruction  covers  the 
three  R's.  The  older  boys  are  being  trained  to  teach  and  carry  on  evangelistic  work. 
While  there  is  no  class  work  in  manual  training,  all  the  boarding  pupils  assist  in  the 
general  work  of  the  station,  including  the  building  operations.  The  missionaries  on 
the  field  realize  the  importance  of  education  and  are  planning  to  make  provisions  for 
school  work.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  mission  headquarters  at  Charlesville  are 
near  the  great  diamond  mining  operations  of  that  region,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
American  Board  will  provide  liberal  assistance  for  the  adequate  educational  develop- 
ment of  this  important  station. 

The  Garanganza  Evangelical  Mission  is  located  in  the  Katanga  Province.  It  is 
reported  to  have  six  stations.  The  Congo  Evangelical  Mission,  or  Pentecostal  Mis- 
sion, is  reported  to  have  five  stations  in  the  Katanga  region. 

The  Seventh  Day  Adventists  have  two  stations  in  the  Eastern  Province,  and  the 
Westcott  Brothers'  Mission  is  in  the  Sankuru  and  the  Kasai  Districts.  This  mission 
has  done  a  large  amount  of  grammatical  and  translation  work. 

III.  SUMMARY  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 
The  extensive  areas,  the  wealth  of  resources,  and  the  eleven  million  Native  people 
of  this  great  inland  colony  have  been  briefly  described.  The  serious  problems  of  health 
and  sanitation,  the  primitive  character  of  the  widely  scattered  population,  and  the 
tropical  cUmate,  have  been  shown  to  be  difficult  elements  in  the  development  of  the 
colony  and  the  civilization  of  the  people.  In  view  of  the  brief  time  since  the  Belgian 
Government  has  had  control  of  the  colony,  commendable  success  has  been  achieved  in 
the  establishment  of  peace  and  order,  in  combatting  the  ravages  of  disease,  in  the  intro- 
duction of  economic  undertakings,  and  in  the  encouragement  of  educational  missions. 
The  extent  of  this  success  is,  however,  but  a  beginning  of  the  great  work  that  calls 
insistently  upon  the  government  and  all  agencies  interested  in  the  possibilities  of  the 
colony  and  its  Native  people. 


286 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


The  educational  activities  have  been  maintained  ahnost  entirely  by  Protestant 
and  Catholic  missions.  The  friendly  attitude  of  the  government  to  educational 
missions  has  been  of  great  encouragement  to  them  in  their  heroic  efforts.  Their 
civilizing  work  has  been  of  inestimable  value  to  the  colony.  Their  self-sacrifice  and 
their  devotion  deserve  the  appreciation  of  civilized  people  everywhere.  Roman  Catho- 
lic missionaries  have  established  significant  beginnings  in  education  at  great  cost 
to  health  and  life.  In  some  respects  Protestant  missions  have  worked  even  under 
greater  difficulties  in  that  they  not  only  endured  the  torrid  heat  and  the  menace  of 
dangerous  diseases,  but  that  they  were  also  working  with  a  European  government 
and  people  differing  in  language  and  in  customs.  The  appreciation  shown  by  the 
Belgian  Government  for  the  missions  of  European  and  American  origin  has  been 
richly  deserved,  for  they  have  served  with  complete  loyalty  to  the  government  of  the 
colony.  A  striking  quality  of  the  Congo  missions  has  been  that  they  have  gone  far 
into  the  interior  of  the  colony  and  aimed  directly  for  the  masses  of  the  people.  So 
concerned  have  they  been  for  the  primitive  multitude  of  the  unknown  areas  that  they 
have  overlooked  the  need  for  the  development  of  Native  leadership  to  assist  them  in 
directing  their  vital  influence.  In  this  respect  the  missions  of  the  Congo  are  in  rather 
striking  contrast  with  those  observed  in  many  of  the  other  colonies.  Elsewhere  edu- 
cational efforts  have  been  too  largely  limited  to  the  coast  Natives  and  the  education 
has  been  exclusively  of  the  clerical  and  literary  type.  In  the  Congo  the  missions  have 
endeavored  to  spread  their  influence  so  rapidly  that  they  have  been  compelled  to  limit 
the  training  to  the  simplest  rudiments.  So  thinly  has  their  influence  been  spread  as 
to  be  in  danger  of  disappearing  as  soon  as  the  supervision  of  the  missions  has  been 
slackened  or  removed.  Fortunately  both  missions  and  government  are  now  beginning 
to  realize  that  they  must  provide  for  a  more  advanced  training  of  selected  Natives  so 
that  they  may  be  able  to  share  in  the  direction  of  the  educational  and  religious 
activities.  The  government  schools  taught  by  Catholic  teaching  orders  at  the 
political  centers  are  gradually  training  Native  pupils  who  have  been  assembled  from 
the  lower  schools  in  different  parts  of  the  colon3^  At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Congo 
General  Conference  of  Protestant  Missionaries  the  followmg  resolutions  were  adopted: 

That  missions  shall  provide  advanced  instruction  in  every  Hne  as  fast  as  our  Natives  are  prepared  to 
profit  by  it.  We  should  make  the  largest  use  of  our  present  equipment  before  attempting  new  schools.  AU 
boarding  schools  should  advance  the  work  of  the  elementary  grades,  up  to  the  eighth  grade  or  Standard  VI. 

That  secondary  schools  should  be  built  and  equipped  as  fast  as  staff  and  building  can  be  supplied  with- 
out seriously  affecting  the  boarding  schools. 

That  we  establish  at  an  early  date  Union  Higher  Schools,  suggesting  the  following  as  possible  locations: 
the  Equatorial  Section,  Higher  Congo,  Kasai,  Katanga,  and  the  strengthening  of  the  Union  School  at 
Kimpese  for  the  Lower  Congo. 

The  following  recommendations  are  offered  to  indicate  the  general  educational 
needs  that  should  be  considered  by  the  government,  missions,  and  commercial  con- 
cerns : 

1.  That  all  who  are  concerned  in  the  education  of  the  Natives  distinguish  between 
the  educational  needs  of  2,200,000  children  of  school  age  and  the  training  of  Native 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


287 


teachers  and  leaders  for  the  masses  of  the  peojjle.  A  system  of  education  that  fails  to 
provide  these  two  types  of  education  will  fail  to  provide  the  training  necessary  for 
the  development  of  the  peoj)le. 

2.  That  the  essential  elements  of  education  for  both  the  masses  and  their  teachers 
have  regard  for  the  following  elements, namely,  health,  ability  to  develop  the  resources 
of  the  country,  household  arts,  sound  recreation,  rudiments  of  knowledge,  character 
development,  and  community  responsibility.  To  realize  these  ends  it  will  be  neces- 
sary for  the  schools  not  only  to  provide  the  usual  classroom  subjects  but  to  train  the 
pupils  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  to  require  them  to  observe  proper  standards  of 
conduct  in  their  homes  and  in  their  dormitories,  and  to  apply  their  knowledge  in  the 
school  life  and  in  the  communities  to  which  they  go.  Native  teachers  should  have 
advanced  trainnig  in  the  subjects  and  activities  they  are  to  teach. 

3.  That  the  school  system  in  each  area  controlled  by  missions  or  government 
provide  for  a  gradation  of  schools  patterned  after  the  system  in  Natal,  South  Africa, 
or  the  Scottish  mission  schools  of  Calabar,  Nigeria.  The  essentials  of  such  a  system 
are:  (1)  A  central  teacher-training  school  with  boarding  pupils  to  which  selected  pupils 
are  sent  from  the  next  lower  grade  of  institution.  (2)  Community  center  schools, 
with  boarding  facilities,  for  selected  pupils  from  the  lowest  grade  of  schools;  these 
schools  to  have  special  facilities  for  influencing  the  people  of  their  neighborhoods. 
(3)  Local  day  schools  under  Native  teachers  trained  not  only  to  carry  on  school  work 
but  for  leadership  in  the  school  community. 

4.  Probably  the  most  vital  needs  of  existing  educational  systems  in  the  Congo 
are:  (1)  Adequate  and  effective  supervision  of  outstation  schools.  So  far  as  possible 
this  supervision  should  for  the  present  be  largely  done  by  missionaries  and  other 
Europeans.  (2)  Every  school  officer  from  the  Native  teachers  in  the  bush  schools  to 
those  in  general  charge  of  the  work  should  be  constantly  on  the  alert  to  discover  pupils 
of  promise  and  to  advance  them  to  higher  grades  of  education.  Through  supervision 
and  selection  the  school  systems  will  be  gradually  advanced  from  their  present  con- 
dition. 

5.  That  the  education  of  women  and  girls  receive  much  more  serious  considera- 
tion both  as  to  quantity  and  quality  in  every  grade  of  school. 

6.  That  the  languages  of  instruction  be  chosen  with  as  much  regard  as  possible 
for  the  tribal  language  prevailing  in  the  school  community.  To  encourage  intertribal 
communication  it  is  desirable  that  some  lingua  franca  shall  be  chosen.  The  higher 
grades  of  pupils  must  have  a  knowledge  of  French  as  a  means  of  communication  with 
government  officials  and  access  to  the  achievements  of  civilization.  The  relative  empha- 
sis on  the  local  language  and  the  lingua  franca  should  be  determined  by  the  character 
of  the  local  language  and  the  number  of  people  by  whom  it  is  used.  These  elements 
must  also  be  considered  in  the  selection  of  the  lingua  franca. 

The  application  of  these  suggestions  would  probably  have  the  following  results 
in  the  school  system :  (a)  A  tribal  language  would  be  used  in  the  first  two  or  three  years 
of  the  school;  (b)  The  lingua  franca,  possibly  one  of  the  three  or  four  great  languages 


288 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


of  the  Congo,  would  be  added  in  the  middle  school;  (c)  French  would  be  taught  from 
the  fourth  or  fifth  year  upwards.  Mission  societies  are  to  be  highly  commended  for 
their  persistent  and  laborious  efforts  to  translate  Native  languages  into  printed  form. 
The  problems  involved  are  most  perplexing  and  require  unusual  statesmanship, 
especially  as  to  the  selection  of  the  Native  languages  that  are  worthy  of  the  expense, 
time,  and  energy  required  for  the  task.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  government  and  mis- 
sions may  cooperate  in  this  important  and  difficult  undertaking. 

7.  Health  conditions  in  certain  districts  of  the  colony  are  so  perplexing  and  serious 
as  to  require  the  assistance  of  international  health  organizations  interested  in  Central 
Africa.  Government  and  missions  have  had  suflBcient  success  in  controlling  even  the 
dreaded  sleeping  sickness  to  justify  an  emphatic  appeal  to  these  international  health 
organizations  to  join  in  their  great  responsibilities. 

The  cordial  cooperation  of  the  Belgian  Government  in  the  study  of  the  school 
activities  in  the  colony  makes  it  possible  for  the  Commission  to  offer  the  following 
suggestions  for  the  consideration  of  the  government. 

1.  The  education  of  Native  peoples  is  of  such  vital  importance  to  the  colony  as  to 
require  a  special  department  for  the  direction  and  development  of  school  activities. 
The  present  assignment  of  education  as  a  secondary  responsibility  of  the  Department  of 
Justice  does  not  recognize  the  importance  of  education  as  a  colonial  activity.  The  direc- 
tor of  such  a  department  should  be  familiar  with  the  best  systems  of  colonial  education 
in  every  part  of  the  world.  His  sympathetic  supervision  of  all  systems  of  schools  in 
the  colony  would  contribute  vitally  to  the  harmonious  development  of  the  colony 
and  its  Native  peoples. 

2.  As  soon  as  the  financial  resources  are  available  government  aid  should  be  ex- 
tended to  educational  institutions  of  all  missions  whose  schools  have  attained  the  stand- 
ards required  by  the  government. 

3.  The  recognition  of  Native  teachers  by  the  government  would  aid  materially 
in  attracting  Natives  of  ability  to  the  occupation  and  retaining  them  in  the  service  as 
against  the  tempting  offers  of  higher  wages  by  commercial  concerns.  The  form  and 
condition  of  such  recognition  require  careful  consideration. 

4.  The  agricultural  improvement  of  the  colony  is  possible  only  through  govern- 
mental provision  for  farm  demonstration  and  other  forms  of  instruction  for  the  Native 
farmers  in  food  production,  and  especially  in  the  breeding  and  care  of  the  small  animals, 
such  as  chickens,  ducks,  and  rabbits.  Large  farming  operations  for  commercial  pur- 
poses are  important,  but  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  by  the  small  Native  farmer  is 
much  more  important  to  the  general  welfare  of  the  colony. 

5.  The  opportunities  for  training  of  Native  medical  assistants  by  the  government 
should  be  greatly  increased  so  that  a  suflScient  number  of  health  workers  may  be  avail- 
able to  cope  with  the  tremendous  demands  of  the  situation. 

6.  The  Commission  for  the  Protection  of  Natives,  which  is  probably  the  most  sig- 
nificant organization  for  Natives  in  the  colony,  deserves  the  continued  encouragement 
and  increased  support  of  the  government  in  its  important  work. 


BELGIAN  CONGO 


289 


The  following  are  the  recommendations  which  apply  especially  to  Protestant 
missions: 

1.  The  increasing  desire  of  Protestant  missions  to  cooperate  with  the  Belgian 
Government  should  be  encouraged  in  every  possible  way.  This  desire  is  so  enii)hati- 
cally  and  clearly  indicated  in  the  resolutions  of  the  Conference  of  Foreign  Missions 
Boards  working  in  the  Congo  as  to  be  worthy  of  presentation  herewith: 

We  recognize  the  very  great  necessity  of  keeping  our  missionary  force  in  intimate  touch  with  Belgian 
home  hfe  and  government  in  order  that  the  missionary  may  be  properly  trained  for  his  work  in  a  Belgian 
colony. 

The  missionaries  of  the  Protestant  missionary  societies  working  in  the  Congo  will  be  visiting  Belgium 
in  increasing  numbers  for  the  purpose  of  further  familiarizing  themselves  with  the  French  language,  Belgian 
customs,  and  home  life;  also  in  some  cases  for  the  study  of  tropical  medicine  and  other  subjects  at  the  uni- 
versity. We  therefore  recommend  that  an  office  be  established  at  Brussels  to  assist  the  missionaries  in  mak- 
ing helpful  contacts  with  this  end  in  view.  .  .  .  The  provision  of  French-speaking  teachers  from  Bel- 
gium or  other  French-speaking  lands  is  important  and  urgent. 

2.  There  should  be  effective  cooperation  of  mission  societies  for  great  purposes 
possible  only  through  union  efforts.  It  is  probable  that  the  Congo  missions  have  real- 
ized a  greater  degree  of  cooperation  than  those  of  any  other  colony  visited.  Possibly 
the  most  important  union  effort  is  an  effective  cooperation  for  the  development  of 
Christian  work  in  such  large  centers  as  Boma,  Matadi,  Kinshasa,  Stanleyville,  and 
Elisabethville.  These  large  centers  are  drawing  the  representatives  of  various  missions 
in  such  numbers  as  to  require  the  combined  strength  of  all  societies.  The  neighbor- 
hood work  in  these  centers  should  provide  for  activities  such  as  are  maintained  in 
Eiu'opean  and  American  cities  by  social  settlements,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
and  city  missions.  So  far  as  we  have  observed,  none  of  the  centers  mentioned  have  a 
Christian  work  that  is  in  any  way  equal  to  the  demands  of  the  situation.  Other  forms 
of  cooperation  that  are  possible  are  union  hostels,  such  as  the  one  now  under  way  at 
Kinshasa;  union  purchasing  agencies;  union  river  boats. 

3.  The  masses  of  Natives  assembled  at  Elisabethville,  Panda,  and  Kambove 
by  the  great  mining  operations  require  the  best  statesmanship  and  the  most  liberal 
support  of  all  missions  that  adequate  provision  may  be  made  for  the  education,  recrea- 
tion, and  religious  life  of  the  thousands  of  Natives  who  are  subjected  to  the  disturbing 
influences  of  these  mining  centers  and  then  retiu-ned  to  their  Native  villages  widely 
scattered  through  Central  Africa. 


Chapter  XII 


LIBERIA 

Education  is  of  unique  and  emphatic  importance  in  a  republic.  Wise  and  sym- 
pathetic rulers  in  a  colony  may  be  able  to  manage  the  government  and  develoj)  the 
colony  until  the  people  are  sufficiently  advanced  to  participate  in  the  administration 
of  affairs,  but  the  safety  and  success  of  a  republic  require  that  the  educational  sys- 
tem shall  as  soon  as  possible  both  educate  a  leadership  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
the  masses  and  train  the  masses  to  observe  the  laws  of  hygiene,  to  work  successfully, 
and  to  maintain  the  morals  and  morale  of  the  republic. 

In  view  of  these  facts  the  evaluation  of  education  in  Liberia  has  special  significance 
in  determining  the  future  possibilities  of  the  Republic.  As  self-government  by  people 
of  African  origin  is  a  matter  of  concern  not  only  to  the  Africans  and  their  friends,  but 
also  internationally,  it  is  necessary  to  show  the  relation  of  education  in  Liberia  to  the 
perplexing  problems  of  health,  industry,  and  government. 

The  outstanding  facts  presented  in  this  chapter  are,  first,  the  promising  possibili- 
ties of  the  virile  primitive  groups  and  the  evidence  of  extensive  natural  resources  of 
the  interior  country;  second,  the  small  scattered  settlements  of  civilized  Americo- 
Liberians  and  coast  Natives,  hitherto  unable  to  develop  the  people  or  the  resources; 
third,  the  serious  problems  of  finance  and  organization  confronting  the  government; 
fourth,  the  inadequacy  of  the  educational  and  religious  facilities  of  mission  boards, 
whose  devoted  labors  have  been  very  largely  confined  to  the  coast  areas;  and  fifth, 
the  inability  of  the  Republic  to  supply  educational  facilities,  a  condition  which  im- 
pelled the  Secretary  of  Public  Instruction  to  write  in  his  Report  for  1921:  "It  is  im- 
possible to  maintain  a  decent  public  school  system.  This  generation  of  children  is 
being  shamefully  robbed  of  advantages  and  being  hopelessly  crippled  for  usefulness 
to  the  state."  All  seems  now  to  depend  upon  the  proposed  American  loan.  It  is  gen- 
erally agreed  that  the  successful  administration  of  this  loan  will  solve  the  serious  prob- 
lems confronting  Liberia  and  make  possible  the  extension  of  educational  and  religious 
facilities  for  the  development  of  the  Republic.  Part  I  of  this  chapter  presents  the 
economic  and  sociological  backgrounds  of  education;  Part  II  describes  the  educa- 
tional facilities;  and  Part  III  contains  the  summary  and  recommendations. 

1.    ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIOLOGICAL  BACKGROUND 

The  Republic  of  Liberia  is  on  the  upper  west  coast  of  Africa.  With  Sierra  Leone 
to  the  north,  it  occupies  the  southernmost  part  of  the  north  African  continent,  where 
the  coast  bends  abruptly  eastward  toward  the  Gold  Coast  and  Nigeria.  Its  area  of 
45,000  square  miles  equals  that  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  and  is  but  little  less  than 
that  of  England.  Its  coast  line  is  350  miles  long  and  its  jagged  interior  boundary  runs 
at  distances  varying  from  75  to  150  miles  from  the  coast.    Its  Native  population, 


LIBERIA 


991 


estimated  at  1,000,000  to  2,000,000,  is  little  known.  The  coast  groups,  which  have 
attained  various  degrees  of  civilization,  are  estimated  to  include  between  50,000  and 
60,000  people,  of  whom  probably  30,000  may  be  said  to  observe  European  or  American 
standards  of  life.  The  Americo-Liberians  probably  number  about  15,000,  and  the 
white  population  includes  not  more  than  100  persons  of  European  and  American  origin. 

The  significant  elements  in  Liberia  are,  first,  the  emi)hatic  differentiation  of  the  in- 
terior masses  of  the  Native  peoples  from  the  small  groups  of  Americo-Liberians  and 
Native  peoples  associated  with  them  in  a  series  of  settlements  along  the  coast;  second, 
the  economic  possibilities  of  the  country;  and  third,  the  present  form  of  government, 
together  with  the  forces,  historical  and  otherwise,  that  have  contributed  to  the  present 
conditions.  The  failure  to  distinguish  these  three  elements  has  led  to  much  confusion 
in  determining  the  present  condition  and  the  possibilities  of  Liberia.  Even  the  little 
that  is  known  of  the  Native  people  indicates  that  they  are  equal  in  possibilities  to 
those  of  the  neighboring  colonies.  The  economic  resources  of  the  well-drained  country, 
the  forests,  the  minerals,  the  water  power,  give  promise  of  great  future  development. 
The  effort  to  establish  a  republican  form  of  government  among  African  people  has 
commanded  the  interest  of  the  civilized  world  during  the  one  hundred  years  that  have 
passed  since  the  first  company  of  freed  slaves  was  landed  in  1822  on  this  African  coast. 
The  Republic  has  passed  through  many  interesting  and  often  tragic  experiences.  The 
little  company  that  landed  in  1822  has  extended  civilization  thinly  along  the  coast. 
Europe  has  looked  on  with  mingled  emotions,  always  doubtful  of  the  success  of  the 
undertaking,  sometimes  apprehensive  as  to  the  effect  of  the  experiment  upon  neigh- 
boring colonies,  and  in  some  instances  with  a  selfish  desire  to  acquire  and  control  the 
resources  of  the  people  and  country.  America  also  has  shown  varying  attitudes. 
Fundamentally  the  desire  among  Americans  has  been  that  Liberia  should  succeed  as  a 
republic,  though  many  unfortunately  have  no  interest  whatever  in  the  subject.  The 
thoughtful  groups  of  American  Negroes  are  eager  to  the  point  of  anxiety  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  African  experiment,  and  a  very  small  number  of  white  Americans  have 
shared  their  interest  with  them.  Some  join  those  of  Europe  who  doubt  as  to  the  suc- 
cess of  seK-government  by  black  groups  in  any  part  of  the  world.  The  result  of  the 
American  attitude  has  been  that  Europe  regards  Liberia  as  practically  a  protectorate 
of  the  American  Government.  On  more  than  one  occasion  this  interpretation  of 
American  interest  has  probably  saved  Liberia  from  catastrophes  threatening  its  exist- 
ence. The  Republic  is  now  passing  through  a  very  critical  experience.  It  is  generally 
agreed  that  the  future  depends  upon  the  just  and  effective  administration  of  a  $5,000,- 
000  loan  from  the  United  States  Government.  An  accurate  appreciation  of  the  sig- 
nificance of  this  loan,  as  well  as  the  future  possibilities  of  the  Republic,  requires  clear 
understanding  of  the  elements  described  in  the  following  paragraphs. 

The  Native  People 

The  most  important  element  in  the  future  possibilities  of  Liberia  is  the  Native 
group,  variously  estimated  at  from  1,000,000  to  2,000,000  people.  The  general  con- 
dition of  this  group  ranges  from  barbarism  to  the  higher  forms  of  primitive  society. 


292 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


with  a  negligible  few  who  have  attained  the  simpler  forms  of  civilization.  As  neither 
the  coast  government  nor  the  missionaries  have  exerted  any  appreciable  influence 
upon  the  Natives,  they  are  living  according  to  the  customs  of  their  tribes.  The  chiefs 
exercise  authority  and  enforce  order  to  suit  their  own  purposes  and  to  carry  out  tribal 
traditions.  This  situation  has  been  modified  only  by  the  spasmodic  efforts  of  the 
government  to  collect  taxes  and  draft  soldiers,  though  in  the  past  two  or  three  years 
the  government  has  been  able  to  exercise  this  authority  with  more  success  than 
formerly.  Nevertheless,  taxation  has  been  very  limited  and  quite  irregular.  The 
usual  form  of  the  family  is  polygamous.  The  dwellings  are  small  mud-covered  huts, 
grouped  in  villages  ranging  from  five  or  ten  huts  to  four  or  five  hundred.  The  princi- 
pal occupation  is  the  cultivation  on  small  plots  of  ground  of  such  crops  as  rice,  corn, 
cassava,  yams,  potatoes,  cotton,  and  tobacco.  Nearly  all  the  villages  have  some 
handicraft,  including  the  working  of  iron,  leather,  and  silver;  the  making  of  baskets 
and  pottery;  the  weaving  and  dyeing  of  cloth.  The  domestic  animals  of  the  villages 
are  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  and  sometimes  pigs  and  chickens. 

The  Natives  who  have  entered  mission  schools  have  responded  to  the  satisfaction 
of  their  teachers.  Some  of  these  pupils  have  proceeded  to  Europe  and  America  and 
have  completed  the  courses  of  instruction  in  colleges  and  universities  with  credit. 
Two  Liberian  tribes  are  recognized  for  their  ability  by  all  who  have  studied  the  coast 
regions  of  West  Africa.  The  Vai  people  are  said  to  rank  high  among  the  Native  tribes 
of  West  Africa.  Their  most  important  achievement  is  the  development  of  a  Native 
alphabet  and  a  written  language  quite  independent  of  European  influence.  The  second 
group  is  the  Kru  Nation  of  the  central  coast  region  of  Liberia.  These  peoples  are 
well  known  for  their  physical  strength  and  their  skill  as  boatmen.  Practically  all  the 
west  coast  ships  are  manned  by  Kru  Natives,  who  handle  the  heavy  cargoes  during  the 
time  that  the  ships  are  in  the  tropical  regions.  This  is  especially  true  of  British  and 
American  ships,  whose  officers  take  on  the  Kru  workmen  at  Freetown  or  Monrovia 
and  carry  them  along  until  they  return  to  Freetown  on  their  way  to  Europe  or  America. 

The  Statesman's  Year-Book  reports  six  principal  stocks — Mandingoes,  Gissi, 
Gola,  Kpwesi,  Kru,  and  Greboes.  Some  authorities  add  other  tribes,  notably,  the 
Mendi  and  the  Vai  tribes  in  sections  next  to  Sierra  Leone.  As  Liberia  has  not  been  ade- 
quately studied  all  efforts  to  describe  the  people  are  necessarily  more  or  less  conjec- 
tures. Numerous  articles  of  interest  have  been  written.  The  books  of  Sir  Harry 
Johnston  and  Professor  Frederick  Starr  provide  much  useful  information.  The  one 
certain  fact  is  that  the  Native  people  are  in  their  natural  primitive  condition  with  evi- 
dences of  physical  strength  and  industry  that  rank  them  with  the  peoples  of  neigh- 
boring colonies. 

A  recent  tour  of  the  northern  and  western  sections  of  Liberia,  arranged  by  Bishop 
Overs  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Mission  Board,  furnished  a  number  of  interesting 
facts  concerning  the  villages  and  the  country  through  which  the  party  traveled. 
The  party  consisted  of  four  white  American  clergymen  and  one  Native  clergyman. 
They  proceeded  by  rail  from  Freetown,  Sierra  Leone,  and  entered  Liberia  near  the 
northern  boundary  about  February  17,  1922.  They  traveled  along  the  French  border 


James  Emmax  Kwegyih  Ac.-grey  I'i.e.woxo  Guk  Wolo 


Native  of  tlie  Cold  Coast,  educated  in  Africa  and  Amer-  Born  in  tlie  Kru  coast,  Liberia.   Rc<'eived  the  degree  of 

ica.    Now  completing  the  requirements  for  the  degree  of  A.li.  from  Harvard  University  and  A.M.  from  Columbia, 

Ph.D.  at  Columbia  University.  and  graduated  from  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New 

York  City. 


Ka.mija  Sim.v.ngo 


Born  in  Portuguese  East  .\frica.  Earl.v  schooling  in 
South  Africa.  A  graduate  of  Hampton  Institute,  and  now 
finishing  his  B.S.  requirements  at  Columbia. 


Fredeiuca  Bado  Brown 

A  native  of  Liberia.  Re(civc<l  the  degri^e  of  A.B.  from 
Lawrence  College.  Wisconsin,  and  has  taken  special  courses 
for  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work  in  which  she  is  engaged. 


NATIVE  AFRICANS  OF  INTELLECTUAL  ATTAINMENTS 
The  success  of  these  typical  full-blooded  Africans  at  colleges  and  universities  of  recognized  standing  is  a  signifi- 
cant answer  to  the  question  of  the  educational  jjossibilities  of  .African  Xati\  es 


LIBERIA 

Missions  and  schools  are  chiefly  distributed  along  the  coast.    The  interior  areas  are  almost 

entirely  undeveloped. 


294 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


and  then  southward  to  Monrovia,  where  they  arrived  on  the  22nd  of  March.  Their 
diary  reports  personal  observations,  interviews  with  chiefs,  conversations  with  peo- 
ple, records  of  temperature  and  altitude,  and  estimated  distances.  In  view  of  the  lack 
of  facts  concerning  the  interior  tribes  it  seems  worth  while  to  note  the  more  important 
observations  made  by  this  party. 

Villages 

Probably  the  most  notable  fact  reported  is  the  proximity  of  villages  to  each 
other.  A  record  of  distances  and  the  number  of  huts  for  a  portion  of  the  journey 
illustrates  this  fact.   In  the  first  part  of  the  journey,  covering  40  miles,  there  were 

12  villages  with  a  total  of  645  huts.  The  average  distance  apart  of  the  villages  was 
about  three  and  one-half  miles,  and  the  average  number  of  huts  53,  ranging  from  12 
in  the  smallest  village  to  120  in  the  largest.  In  the  second  part  of  the  journey,  covering 
fifty-eight  and  one-half  miles,  there  were  16  villages,  an  average  distance  apart 
of  three  and  three-quarter  miles.  The  huts  reported  for  13  of  the  villages  was 
1,034,  an  average  of  about  80  huts  to  a  village,  ranging  from  12  as  the  lowest  to 
206  as  the  highest.  In  the  third  section  they  traveled  sixty-nine  and  one-half  miles 
and  passed  through  14  villages,  an  average  distance  of  about  five  miles.  In 

13  of  the  villages  there  were  1,789  huts,  an  average  of  about  138  huts  to  a  vil- 
lage, ranging  from  12  in  the  smallest  to  350  in  the  largest.  In  the  first  part  of  the  jour- 
ney, the  distance  between  the  villages  was  about  three  miles  as  against  7  to  9  miles 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  journey.  The  average  number  of  huts  in  the  60  villages  re- 
ported was  about  95,  ranging  from  12  in  the  smallest  to  574  in  Bokasa,  the  largest. 
The  large  villages  with  200  or  more  huts  are  usually  the  residences  of  the  paramount 
chiefs,  who  rule  over  a  number  of  villages. 

Native  Rulers 

The  comments  on  the  Native  rulers  indicate  the  appearance  and  character  of  some 
of  the  men  who  rule  over  the  people.  The  village  of  the  first  paramount  chief  visited 
had  60  huts.  The  chief  is  described  as  a  man  with  dignity  and  grace,  eager  for  schools 
and  a  hospital,  and  willing  to  help  in  every  way.  Another  town  chief  is  described  as 
"distinguished  in  appearance."  The  paramount  chief  at  Woblama  expressed  eager- 
ness to  have  a  school,  was  willing  to  build  at  any  place  selected,  and  agreed  to  put  boys 
and  girls  in  school  and  supply  the  necessary  food.  He  was  pleasant  and  genial  in 
manner  and  his  gray  hair  added  dignity  to  his  appearance.  The  number  of  the  vil- 
lages occupied  by  paramount  chiefs  indicates  that  the  scope  of  their  influence  may 
not  be  extensive.  Those  mentioned  are  probably  the  more  impressive  men  met. 
Under  the  wise  direction  of  a  strong  central  government,  it  is  probable  that  these 
chiefs  and  paramount  chiefs  would  respond  helpfully  to  efPorts  for  the  improvement  of 
the  people. 

Village  Handicrafts 

Possibly  the  most  valuable  index  to  the  possibilities  of  the  people  is  in  the  record 
of  the  occupations,  handicrafts,  and  products  observed  in  the  villages.  In  the  first 
group  of  ten  villages,  the  principal  occupation  is  farming.  The  handicrafts  are  bas- 
ketry, the  making  of  pottery,  the  weaving  and  dyeing  of  cloth  in  several  villages,  and 
goldsmithing  in  one  village.  In  the  second  group  the  activities  are  very  much  the 
same  as  in  the  first  with  the  omission  of  goldsmithing  and  the  addition  of  black- 
smithing  and  leather  work  in  several  villages.  The  third  group  of  villages  includes 
all  the   ctivities  of  the  first  two  groups  with  the  addition  of  silversmithing  in  two 


LIBERIA 


S95 


villages  and  carpentering  in  one.  The  fourth  group  reports  all  the  handicrafts  in  the 
preceding  groups,  with  the  exception  of  the  goldsniithing.  It  is  noticeable  that  there 
are  silversmiths  in  three  of  the  twelve  villages.  The  party  reports  the  village  of  IJone  as 
"one  of  the  best  towns  visited."  In  this  town  there  are  259  good  houses  and  a  para- 
mount chief  and  a  town  chief  dwell  there.  The  handicrafts  are  reported  as  black- 
smithing,  silversmithing,  carpentering,  leatherw'ork,  and  the  making  and  dyeing  of 
cloth.  The  domestic  animals  include  cows,  goats,  and  sheep,  all  in  good  condition. 
The  farm  products  are  cotton,  rice,  cassava,  yams,  potatoes,  corn,  and  other  vege- 
tables. With  farming  as  the  principal  occupation  it  is  evident  that  the  people  of  these 
villages  have  considerable  industry  and  skill. 

Religious  Life 

The  comments  of  the  diary  on  religion  are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  inroads  of 
Mohammedanism.  It  is  to  be  understood  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  Moham- 
medan influence,  the  Native  people  are  as  yet  practically  all  pagan.  Reference  is  made 
to  the  presence  of  a  few  INIohammedans  in  about  twelve  of  the  villages.  The  village 
of  Mamatahum  is  described  as  a  Mohammedan  town  with  a  resident  priest.  The  vil- 
lage of  the  paramount  chief,  two  miles  away,  is  also  described  as  a  Mohammedan 
town  where  a  priest  is  being  prepared  for  ordination.  Another  village  six  miles  away 
is  reported  to  have  "many  followers  of  Islam,  though  one  judges  rather  superfcially." 
The  report  of  the  village  of  Bakedon  is  that  "Mohammedans  are  very  strong  here, 
undoubtedly  their  strongest  center  in  Liberia.  There  is,  however,  no  antagonism 
toward  Christianity."  Mohammedans  are  reported  in  several  of  the  following  vil- 
lages, notably  in  Bokasa,  where  the  report  states,  "There  are  many  Mohammedans, 
but  no  mosque.  They  pray  in  a  clear  space  under  the  trees  outside  of  town."  The 
inference  from  these  reports  is  that  Mohammedanism  is  established  in  a  number  of 
villages  in  the  area  adjacent  to  French  territory  and  Sierra  Leone.  Christianity  has 
evidently  had  practically  no  influence  in  the  interior  of  the  country.  Representatives 
of  the  Lutheran  Mission  were  reported  to  have  visited  some  of  the  interior  villages, 
and  one  or  two  military  posts  maintain  schools  where  Christianity  is  the  religion. 

The  Americo-Liberians 

The  Americo-Liberians  and  the  Native  groups  who  have  attained  some  degree  of 
civilization  are  estimated  to  number  from  50,000  to  60,000.  These  groups  are  in  strik- 
ing contrast  with  the  1,500,000  Natives  of  the  interior.  The  nucleus  of  this  civilized 
group  is  composed  of  Americo-Liberians  who  migrated  from  America  between  1822, 
when  the  first  settlement  was  made,  and  1861,  when  the  Civil  War  in  America  began. 
Those  who  have  attained  to  the  European  or  American  standards  of  life  probably  num- 
ber not  more  than  30,000.  Of  this  group,  the  Americo-Liberians  are  probably  about 
12,000  or  15,000.  The  increase  is  said  to  be  much  more  by  the  intermixture  of  the 
Amerieo-Liberian  with  the  Native  population  than  the  excess  of  birthrate  over  death- 
rate  on  the  part  of  Americo-Liberians.  They  live  in  towns  and  settlements  along  the 
350  miles  of  coast. 

Monrovia  is  both  the  political  capital  and  the  largest  town.  It  has  about  4,500 
people,  of  whom  some  1,500  are  Natives  of  the  Kru  tribe,  living  according  to  their 
Native  habits  in  an  adjoining  settlement.  As  Monrovia  represents  the  largest  and 
best  development  of  the  Amerieo-Liberian  group,  it  may  be  well  to  describe  it  in  some 


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detail.  The  city  is  located  on  a  peninsula,  on  land  that  is  in  part  sandy  and  in  part 
quite  rocky.  At  the  water's  edge  are  warehouses  and  landing  sheds.  The  four  or  five 
important  streets  of  the  town  run  parallel  to  the  bay  for  a  distance  of  five  or  six  rather 
long  blocks.  Just  on  the  inside  of  the  warehouses  and  landing  sheds  is  Water  Street, 
a  narrow  way,  paved  with  cobble  stones.  Many  of  the  buildings  are  low  sheds  in  front 
of  which  vendors  sell  vegetables,  fruits,  candy,  and  other  small  wares.  This  street 
also  contains  the  postoffice,  the  customs  house,  and  a  number  of  stores,  some  of  which 
are  well  constructed.  The  second  street,  shghtly  elevated  above  the  level  of  the  first, 
is  kno^vTi  as  Front  Street,  on  which  are  located  the  substantial  buildings  of  the  Bank  of 
West  Africa  (British),  the  Elder-Dempster  oflSce,  and  Faulkner's  Hotel,  o-svned  and 
maintained  by  an  American  Negro  who  is  both  a  skilled  mechanic  and  a  very  good  busi- 
ness man.  The  third  is  Ashmun  Street,  which  contains  most  of  the  important  buildings 
of  the  to-mi,  including  the  homes  of  the  representatives  of  the  American  and  European 
Governments,  the  buildings  of  the  American  Methodist  Mission,  the  Executive  Man- 
sion, the  offices  of  the  War  Department  and  the  Court,  and  a  few  other  buildings  of 
less  importance.  The  last  is  Broad  Street,  on  which  are  located  the  hall  in  which  the 
Legislature  meets,  three  or  four  churches,  and  a  few  residences.  As  there  are  no  vehicles 
of  any  kind  in  the  town,  the  streets  have  a  peculiar  appearance  of  not  being  used, 
and  the  vegetation  on  the  road  has  frequenth^  to  be  cut.  The  limited  extent  of  streets 
and  the  absence  of  roads  into  the  interior  give  little  occasion  for  the  use  of  automo- 
biles or  other  vehicles.  The  Legislative  Hall  is  a  tliree-story  building  in  rather  poor 
repair.  The  lower  floor  is  occupied  by  the  Treasury  Department.  The  second  floor 
is  a  large  room  in  which  the  Legislature  convenes.  At  present  it  is  occupied  by  the 
classes  of  Liberia  College  when  the  Legislature  is  not  in  session.  The  Liberia  College 
building  is  located  on  a  field  of  large  boulders  at  the  extreme  end  of  Broad  Street. 
It  is  constructed  of  brick,  with  porticos  arranged  about  it  on  the  first  and  second  floors. 
The  wooden  parts  of  the  building  have  so  deteriorated  as  to  make  it  untenable.  The 
Executive  Mansion  is  a  large  square  building  with  porticos  arranged  about  it  on  all 
floors.  There  are  a  number  of  comfortable  and  substantial  residences  in  the  town, 
One  of  the  best  of  these  is  now  occupied  by  the  United  States  General  Receiver  of 
Customs.  The  French  and  German  wireless  stations  are  located  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  town.  The  German  wireless  and  cable  station,  in  an  attractive  position  overlook- 
ing the  harbor,  is  a  large  and  well-arranged  compound.  The  buildings  and  equipment 
were  taken  over  by  the  Liberian  Government  during  the  war  and  the  service  tem- 
porarily discontinued.  The  French  wireless  station,  a  Uttle  distance  from  the  town, 
has  continued  in  operation.  The  British  Consulate,  located  some  distance  away,  is  a 
comfortable  residence  of  attractive  appearance  and  pleasing  surroundings. 

In  general  appearance  the  to^-n  and  its  inhabitants  have  many  points  of  resem- 
blance with  some  of  the  small  leisurely  cities  of  Europe  or  America.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  W^ater  Street  and  Kru  Town,  where  the  Native  people  are  more  in  evidence, 
there  is  little  evidence  of  business  or  other  activities.  The  people  on  the  streets  of  the 
to^Ti  are  almost  all  clothed  according  to^European  fashion.  Possibly  a  tenth  of  the 
population  are  in  Native  garb,  and  a  still  smaller  proportion  are  dressed  only  from  the 


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waist  down.  The  conversations,  writings,  and  manner  of  life  of  the  Americo-Liberians 
reflect  the  traditions  that  originated  the  idea  of  a  republic  in  Africa,  and  the  influences 
to  which  they  have  been  subjected  in  their  efforts  to  continue  their  existence  and  main- 
tain the  governmental  authority.  They  reflect  also,  to  some  extent,  the  social  customs 
of  the  southern  states  of  America  prior  to  the  Civil  War,  with  a  ruling  class  very 
little  concerned  with  the  economic  activities  of  life.  The  attempt  has  been  made  to 
transfer  the  political  ideals  of  America,  the  customs  of  the  official  classes  of  England, 
and  to  some  extent  the  manner  of  life  of  an  aristocratic  group.  The  visitor  is  impressed 
by  the  general  ability  among  them  to  discuss  the  great  principles  of  government. 
The  training  and  education  seem  to  have  been  concerned  with  governmental  forms  and 
legal  procedure.  The  deserted  rooms  of  Liberia  College  at  the  time  of  visit  contained 
pupils'  essays  and  orations,  giving  expression  to  the  great  ideals  of  political  liberty  in 
dignified  and  impressive  English.  These  papers  were  found  in  teachers'  and  pupils' 
desks  as  they  had  evidently  been  left  when  the  building  was  abandoned  many  months 
before.  Other  observers  of  school  work  in  Liberia  have  noted  the  unusual  interest  of 
high  school  pupils  in  literature  pertaining  to  government  and  political  questions. 

The  ideals  of  life  and  of  education  have  undoubtedly  been  formed  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  very  unusual  occasion  that  not  only  originated  the  republic,  but  has  con- 
tinued it  to  this  day.  The  little  group  of  civilized  Negroes  from  America,  planted 
on  the  coast  of  Africa  with  millions  of  uncivilized  black  people  all  about  them,  have 
very  naturally  believed  that  it  was  their  first  duty  to  establish  government  according 
to  the  forms  and  ideals  under  which  they  were  transferred  to  Africa.  It  was  not  strange 
that  their  interest  in  government  should  have  excluded  their  appreciation  of  the  import- 
ance of  agriculture  and  of  the  industrial  development  of  the  country.  Their  study  of 
literature  and  history  supported  their  over-emphasis  on  government  as  the  chief  agency 
for  their  own  success  and  for  the  development  of  their  republic.  The  nations  of  Europe 
and  America  would  have  over-emphasized  the  place  of  government  if  the  training  of  the 
youth  had  depended  exclusively  upon  the  ideas  they  received  from  school  books, 
poems  on  liberty,  and  political  orators.  These  exaggerated  appreciations  of  govern- 
ment have  fortunately  been  modified  in  the  thought  of  the  successful  peoples  of  the 
world  by  the  influences  of  the  home,  the  church,  the  economic  activities  of  agriculture, 
industry,  and  commerce,  and  by  many  other  forces  little  known  to  the  Americo- 
Liberians.  These  political  notions  had  their  origin  not  only  in  the  ideals  with  which 
the  Repubhc  was  founded  but  possibly  more  in  the  type  of  society  the  ancestors  of 
the  Americo-Liberians  had  known  in  that  part  of  America  from  which  they  came. 
There  the  governing  classes  were  not  supposed  to  be  directly  concerned  with  industry 
and  agriculture.  The  overwhelming  responsibility  of  this  little  group  not  only  to  govern 
but  to  save  themselves  from  absorption  by  uncivilized  masses  naturally  impelled 
them  to  cling  desperately  to  the  political  forms,  which,  they  had  been  taught,  were  to 
be  the  foundation  of  their  hberty  and  their  success. 

The  present  condition  of  the  country  as  well  as  the  conception  of  government 
and  life  all  indicate  the  failure  of  the  Americo-Liberians  to  recognize  the  importance 
of  the  agricultural,  industrial,  and  commercial  development  of  the  country.  The 


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observer  obtains  the  impression  that  the  great  economic  movements  of  the  nineteenth 
and  twentieth  centuries  seem  to  be  almost  unknowTi  in  Liberia.  There  has  evidently 
been  no  eflfective  interest  in  highways,  railroads,  telegraphs  and  telephones,  agricultural 
and  industrial  development,  and  many  other  activities  now  under  way  in  every 
African  colony  visited.  Equally  unfortunate  has  been  the  disregard  of  the  forces  and 
conditions  that  make  for  the  health  of  the  people.  There  is  practically  no  evidence 
that  the  Americo-Liberians  understand  the  interest  of  modern  society  in  the  health 
of  the  community.  In  view  of  the  tropical  climate  and  the  pioneer  conditions  of  the 
country,  this  oversight  is  a  constant  menace  and  has  more  than  once  threatened  the 
very  existence  of  the  republic.  The  educational  welfare  of  the  people  has  been  left 
almost  entirely  to  foreign  mission  societies.  The  number  of  schools  made  possible 
by  the  Americo-Liberians  themselves  is  practically  negligible,  and  the  type  of  educa- 
tion in  which  they  are  interested  is  so  exclusively  concerned  with  preparation  for  cleri- 
cal pursuits  and  government  service  of  a  literary  character  as  to  exclude  any  effort  to 
prepare  the  youth  to  deal  with  the  hygienic,  agricultural,  industrial,  and  social  needs 
of  either  the  Americo-Liberians  or  the  Native  masses.  After  a  hundred  years  of  life 
in  Liberia,  there  are  but  a  negligible  number  of  Americo-Liberians  who  are  successful 
farmers,  mechanics,  or  professional  workers  prepared  to  deal  adequately  with  the 
resources  of  their  country. 

The  religious  life  of  the  Americo-Liberians  resembles  in  some  respects  the  church 
life  and  attitudes  of  a  conservative  community  in  England  or  America.  Practically 
all  have  some  connection  with  a  church,  usually  Protestant.  They  attend  church 
with  regularity  and  the  Sabbath  is  generally  observed.  Many  of  the  services  are  dig- 
nified and  impressive.  The  interpretation  of  religion  is  usually  abstract.  The  recog- 
nition of  the  practical  applications  to  life  is  rather  exceptional.  In  some  of  the  churches 
revival  services  of  a  most  emotional  type  are  held  at  irregular  intervals.  Under  the 
leadership  of  foreign  mission  societies,  the  churches  are  now  directing  their  efforts 
more  and  more  to  the  needs  of  the  people.  Some  of  these  eflforts  are  commendably effec- 
tive in  providing  sound  recreation  and  other  activities  for  the  improvement  of  the 
people.  Some  of  the  religious  leaders  assert  that  it  is  difficult  to  maintain  civilized 
and  Christian  standards  of  marriage  and  life  in  communities  surrounded  by  the  great 
masses  of  uncivilized  people. 

Economic  Possibilities 

The  economic  possibilities  of  Liberia  are  very  great.  Nearly  all  of  the  45,000 
square  miles  of  land  is  beheved  to  be  suitable  for  cultivation.  The  country  is  drained 
by  an  unusual  number  of  streams.  The  land  is  rolling,  and  in  the  interior  sections  has 
an  approximate  elevation  of  1,000  to  2,000  feet  above  sea  level.  While  the  cKmate  is 
tropical,  the  heat  is  modified  by  sea  breezes  and  by  the  varying  altitudes.  There  are 
extensive  forests  and  considerable  evidence  of  mineral  resources.  American  officers 
state  that  minerals  and  precious  stones  are  known  to  exist  in  Liberia,  including 
petroleum,  gold,  diamonds,  asbestos,  coal,  mica,  aluminum,  and  iron.  Even  with  the 
limited  development  of  the  interior,  the  country  has  been  able  to  export  a  variety  of 


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299 


products,  including  palm  kernels, palm  oil,  coffee,  ginger,  piassava  fiber, kola  nuts,  ivory, 
hard  woods,  dye  woods,  and  rubber.  According  to  consular  reports,  the  products 
capable  of  being  developed  on  a  large  scale  are  cocoa,  pepper,  calabar  beans,  log  wood, 
rice,  sugar,  starch,  fruits,  cotton,  tobacco,  and  corn.  These  varied  products,  together 
with  the  fertile  character  of  the  land  and  the  fairly  numerous  population,  indicate  that 
the  Republic  of  Liberia  compares  very  favorably  in  possibilities  with  the  other  colonies 
of  West  Africa. 

The  wet  and  dry  seasons  constitute  the  chief  divergencies  in  the  climate.  On  the 
coast  and  in  the  interior  forest  country  north  of  six  degrees  latitude  the  heavy  rains 
begin  in  April  and  last  to  the  middle  of  November,  with  a  brief  dry  season  in  August. 
The  long  dry  season  is  from  December  to  April.  South  of  the  sixth  degree  of  latitude 
the  rains  are  more  continuous.  The  extremes  of  heat  are  in  the  dry  season.  The  maxi- 
mum temperature  is  reported  to  be  approximately  100  degrees  in  the  hottest  season 
and  about  57  degrees  when  it  is  coolest.  Records  of  three  years  observation  at  Mon- 
rovia are  as  follows:  Mean  temperature,  78.6  degrees;  mean  maximum  temperature, 
84.6  degrees;  mean  minimum  temperature  74.4  degrees.  The  rainfall  is  reported  to  be 
179  inches,  of  which  170  inches  fall  during  the  seven  rainy  months.  An  American 
oflScer  who  has  had  considerable  experience  both  in  Panama  and  Monrovia  asserts  that 
Monrovia  has  the  better  climate. 

The  long  coast  line  and  the  numerous  rivers  of  Liberia  offer  advantages  of  an 
industrial  and  commercial  character  worthy  of  development.  The  comparatively 
short  distance  of  the  inner  boundary  from  the  coast  line,  varying  from  75  miles  to  150 
miles,  makes  the  country  easily  accessible  to  ocean  traffic  for  industrial  and  commer- 
cial purposes.  Even  though  the  rivers  are  navigable  by  launches  for  only  short  dis- 
tances, they  are  available  for  canoe  service  by  Natives  for  long  trips,  and  may  be  de- 
veloped as  a  source  of  considerable  water-power.  Whatever  their  possibilities  for  power 
or  transportation,  they  are  of  inestimable  value  as  a  drainage  and  irrigating  system  for 
the  interior  country.  Altogether  there  are  six  large  rivers,  and  at  least  twenty  smaller 
streams,  nearly  all  flowing  southwest,  linking  the  interior  with  the  coast.  At  present 
there  are  no  real  harbors.  Vessels  have  to  he  out  at  a  distance  varying  from  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  to  four  miles  from  the  shore.  The  best  port  is  Monrovia,  where  ships 
may  anchor  at  a  distance  of  three-quarters  of  a  mile  out.  With  proper  port  develop- 
ment, the  landing  facilities  could  be  made  satisfactory,  thus  contributing  greatly 
to  the  development  of  the  resources.  The  record  of  customs  revenue  and  the  number  of 
merchant  vessels  calling  give  some  measure  of  the  extent  of  commercial  development. 
The  following  facts  from  the  report  of  the  General  Receiver  of  Customs  are  significant: 

In  1913,  1,322  mercantile  vessels,  with  a  total  tonnage  of  2,690,178  tons  entered  and  cleared  Liberian 
ports.  In  1915  these  figures  decreased  to  344  vessels  of  803,151  tons,  and  in  the  first  eleven  months  of  1917 
only  199  vessels  with  a  total  tonnage  of  421,376  tons  entered  and  cleared  from  Liberian  ports.  The  total 
in  1917  was  245  vessels  of  565,072  tons. 

The  revenues  of  Liberia  have  fallen  off  disastrously  since  1914  in  consequence  of  the  war.  In  1913,  the 
last  full  year  before  the  war,  the  total  customs  revenue  for  Liberia  was  $485,576.80  and  it  was  increasing, 
but  it  steadily  declmed  to  about  $147,000  in  1918.  At  the  end  of  the  war  there  were  some  700  tons  of  coffee. 
7,000  tons  of  piassava  fibre  and  large  quantities  of  palm  kernels,  palm  oil,  and  ivory  awaiting  shipment. 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


With  the  resumption  of  trade  this  produce  will  be  shipped  and  Liberia  will  have  means  to  purchase  abroad 
and  import  the  many  commodities  which  it  has  been  impossible  for  so  long  to  secure. 

The  Liberian  Government 

Appreciation  of  the  present  status  of  the  Liberian  Government  requires  a  reference 
to  the  origin  of  Liberia.  According  to  the  historical  records,  there  were  two  general 
l)urposes  in  mind.  The  first  of  these  was  the  desire  to  deport  from  America,  particu- 
larly from  the  southern  states,  Negroes  who  had  been  freed  and  whose  presence  in 
America  was  an  embarrassment  to  the  system  of  slavery  or  a  burden  upon  the  resources 
of  charity.  The  second  purpose  was  that  of  a  philanthropic  movement  for  Negro 
colonization  in  Africa. 

Samuel  Hopkins  in  1773  proposed  missionary  activities  in  Africa  "with  a  nucleus 
of  trained  Natives  from  the  United  States."  Thomas  Jefferson  in  1781  advocated  the 
gradual  abolition  of  slavery  by  enfranchisement,  deportation,  and  colonization.  In 
1800  the  Legislature  of  Virgina  requested  the  government  to  negotiate  with  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  "on  the  subject  of  purchasing  land  without  the  limits  of 
Virginia  whither  persons  obnoxious  to  the  law  or  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  society 
may  be  removed,"  and  Africa  was  suggested  as  an  appropriate  place.  In  1816  the 
American  Colonization  Society  was  organized  to  make  possible  the  colonization  of 
American  Negroes  in  Africa.  The  United  States  Acts  of  1818  and  1819  declared  slave 
trade  to  be  piracy,  and  provided  that  Negroes  captured  from  slavers  should  be  safely 
kept,  supported,  and  removed  beyond  the  limits  of  the  United  States.  Part  of  the 
money  appropriated  for  these  purposes  was  used  in  the  efforts  to  colonize  Negroes  on 
the  West  Coast  of  Africa.  The  expenditures  and  activities  of  the  United  States 
Government  and  the  American  Colonization  Society  were  at  times  so  intimately 
associated  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  distinguish  between  them.  One  authority  states, 
"government  funds  were  employed  to  colonize  captured  Africans,  to  build  homes  for 
them,  to  furnish  them  with  farming  utensils,  to  pay  instructors  to  teach  them,  to 
purchase  ships  for  their  conveyance,  to  build  forts  for  their  protection,  to  supply 
them  with  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  to  enlist  troops  to  guard  them,  and  to  employ 
the  army  and  navy  in  their  defense."  Futile  attempts  to  make  settlements  were  made 
in  1820  and  1821.  Of  the  first,  it  is  reported  that  "the  Natives  refused  to  sell  the  land, 
and  the  two  agents  and  a  third  of  the  colonists  soon  died  of  fever  and  the  rest  went  to 
the  nearby  British  colony  of  Sierra  Leone."  The  second  attempt  was  also  defeated 
by  the  refusal  of  the  Natives  to  sell. 

The  first  purchase  was  made  on  December  15,  1821,  when  the  representatives  of 
the  United  States  Government  and  the  American  Colonization  Society  bought  from 
the  Natives  a  strip  of  coast  130  miles  long  and  40  miles  broad.  The  report  states 
that  the  "lieutenant  energetically  persuaded  the  Natives  to  sell  the  Montserrado 
site.  The  price  paid  was  a  miscellaneous  assortment,  including  muskets,  powder, 
tobacco,  unbrellas,  hats,  soap,  calico,  and  other  things."  The  place  was  called 
Monrovia  in  honor  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  surviving  emi- 
grants of  the  previous  expedition  were  brought  from  Sierra  Leone  in  1822.  American 


LIBERIA 


301 


naval  vessels  hroiiglit  addiliouiil  scltlers  in  the  following  years  and  the  colonists  arc 
reported  to  have  "adopted  a  so-called  constitution  which,  however,  was  little  more 
than  a  set  of  community  by-laws,  and  they  entered  upon  a  scheme  of  self-administra- 
tion."* The  early  years  were  filled  with  many  difficulties,  including  attacks  from  the 
Natives,  lack  of  food,  bad  health  conditions,  misunderstandings  among  the  colonists 
themselves,  and  differences  with  neighboring  colonial  powers.  The  more  important  of 
these  experiences  are  summarized  in  the  following  statement  from  the  Report  of  the 
Secretary  of  State  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  in  1910: 

About  1832  a  new  phase  of  the  settlement  began.  Various  state  colonization  societies,  which  had  been 
organized  following  the  example  of  those  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  undertook  to  found  separate  settlements 
on  the  neighboring  coast.  The  interests  of  these  independent  and  rival  settlements  naturally  clashed.  The 
need  of  general  laws  and  supervision  became  apparent  if  the  essential  American  character  of  the  settlement 
and  its  perpetuity  were  to  be  maintained.  A  movement  toward  a  federation  of  the  settlements  was  successful. 
All  the  settlements  except  Maryland  in  Liberia  united  in  1837  to  form  the  Commonwealth  of  Liberia, 
governed  by  a  board  of  directors  delegated  by  the  several  parent  societies  in  the  United  States. 

This  Commonwealth,  like  the  primary  settlement,  was  merely  an  organized  community  without  inter- 
national status  or  sanction.  Notwithstanding  this,  it  asserted  one  of  the  prerogatives  of  sovereignty  by 
imposing  customs  duties  on  imported  wares.  This  was  resisted  by  the  neighboring  British  Colonies  of  Sierra 
Leone.  The  dispute  between  the  Commonwealth  and  the  British  Government  was  not  adjusted,  by  reason 
of  the  want  of  national  power  on  the  part  of  the  colonists.  The  remedy  for  this  situation  was  obvious.  The 
parent  societies  in  the  United  States  conveyed  their  rights  to  the  council  of  the  Commonwealth — merely 
reserving  ownership  of  a  part  of  the  lands  they  had  purchased — and  advised  the  colonists  to  declare  them- 
selves independent,  elect  an  assembly,  and  frame  a  constitution.  On  July  24,  1847,  this  change  was  effected 
with  the  consent  of  all  parties,  the  Republic  of  Liberia  being  duly  inaugurated  under  the  adopted  consti- 
tution and  the  elected  president  installed.  The  entrance  of  Liberia  into  the  family  of  nations  encountered 
no  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  British  Government.  On  the  contrary,  the  Republic  of  Liberia  was  recog- 
nized by  England  in  a  few  weeks  and  on  November  21,  1848,  a  treaty  was  signed  with  Great  Britain.  Soon 
afterwards  Liberia  negotiated  other  treaties  with  France,  the  Hanseatic  Republics,  Belgium,  and  Denmark, 
thus  establishing  its  position  as  a  sovereign  state. 

Although  thus  recognized  by  important  European  states  as  a  member  of  the  confraternity  of  nations 
and  admitted  to  the  right  of  contracting  treaties  with  them,  the  recognition  of  the  new  republic  by  the 
United  States  was  long  deferred,  notwithstanding  repeated  overtures  on  the  part  of  Liberia.  Political  and 
racial  obstacles  naturally  interposed  to  prevent  recognition  so  long  as  slavery  endured  in  the  United  States. 
It  was  not  until  June  3,  1862,  that  tardy  recognition  was  accorded  to  the  Republic  of  Liberia  by  an  Act  of 
Congress,  whereby  the  president  was  authorized  to  appoint  diplomatic  representatives  of  the  United  States 
to  the  Republics  of  Haiti  and  Liberia,  respectively,  under  credence  as  commissioners  and  consuls  general. 

The  present  form  of  government  is  modelled  after  that  of  the  United  States. 
Executive  powers  are  vested  in  a  President  and  cabinet  of  six  ministers.  The  legisla- 
ture consists  of  two  houses,  a  Senate  of  eight  members  serving  for  six  years,  and  a 
House  of  Representatives  of  fifteen  members  serving  for  four  years.  The  right  to  vote 
is  granted  to  all  civilized  male  persons  twenty-one  years  of  age  who  are  of  African  origin 
and  possess  real  estate  in  fee  simple.  Only  persons  of  African  descent  are  eligible  to 
citizenship,  and  only  citizens  may  hold  property  in  fee  simple.  The  suffrage  test  of 
civilization  and  property  in  fee  simple  limits  the  voting  to  about  one-fifth  of  the 
30,000  who  have  attained  to  the  higher  forms  of  civiHzation.  This  means  that  a 
total  population  ranging  from  a  million  to  two  million  people  is^governed  by  the  votes 
of^about  6,000  persons. 

*From  Report  of  Secretary  of  State  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  March  22,  1910.  Senate 
Document  457,  Sixty-first  Congress. 


302 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Among  the  most  persistent  and  threatening  of  Liberia's  difl5culties  have  been 
those  relating  to  boundaries  between  the  republic  and  neighboring  colonies.  In 
almost  all  of  these  disputes,  Liberia  has  sought  the  aid  and  counsel  of  the  United 
States  Government.  The  United  States  has  usually  responded,  but  its  efforts 
have  not  met  with  the  desired  success.  The  experience  and  position  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  are  described  in  the  following  quotation,  indicating  that  the 
difficulties  are  not  altogether  in  the  colonial  neighbors  or  in  the  indifference  of  the 
American  Government: 

It  is,  however,  to  be  remarked  that  in  the  past  the  assumption  by  the  United  States  of  the  position  of 
next  friend  has  been  unavaihng,  and  the  remonstrances  of  this  Government  have  generally  been  met  by  an 
intimation  that  the  dispute  has  been  settled  directly  with  Liberia.  Something  more  is  needed  if  the  United 
States  is  to  discharge  any  adequate  function  of  advocacy  and  counsel  for  Liberia — such,  for  instance.,  as  a 
treaty  engagement  whereby  Liberia  delegates  and  the  United  States  assumes  the  function  of  attorney  in 
fact  for  Liberig,  in  matters  of  international  controversy.  There  are  many  precedents  for  the  delegation  by  a 
sovereign  state  of  its  international  representation  to  the  diplomatic  machinery  of  another  state.* 

The  present  condition  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia  is  exceedingly  precarious.  The 
origin  and  nature  of  the  difficulties  are  by  no  means  easy  to  describe.  They  are  the 
result  of  conditions  that  have  continued  for  many  years  and  have  been  complicated 
and  intensified  by  the  Great  War.  A  clear  statement  of  the  republic's  problems  before 
the  war  was  made  by  a  "Commission  of  the  United  States  of  America  to  the  Republic 
of  Liberia  in  1909."  This  Commission,  composed  of  white  and  colored  Americans, 
approached  the  conditions  of  the  republic  with  the  utmost  sympathy.  The  following 
statement  of  the  problems  indicates  the  vital  character  of  the  difficulties  now  confront- 
ing the  republic : 

I.  The  maintenance  of  the  integrity  of  her  frontiers  in  the  face  of  attempted  aggressions  of  her  neighbors 
against  whose  might  she  can  oppose  only  the  justice  of  her  claims. 

II.  The  effective  control  of  the  Native  tribes,  especially  along  the  frontiers,  so  as  to  leave  no  excuse  for 
the  occupation  of  her  territory  by  her  neighbors. 

III.  The  systemization  of  the  national  finances  so  as  to  render  certain  the  meeting  of  all  foreign  obli- 
gations and  to  establish  the  national  credit  on  a  firm  basis. 

IV.  The  development  of  the  hinterland  in  such  a  way  as  to  increase  the  volume  of  trade  and  thus 
supply  the  resources  necessary  for  the  increasing  wants  of  a  progressive  government  and  at  the  same  time 
enable  the  government  to  offer  inducements  to  desirable  emigration  from  the  United  States. 

V.  Because  Liberia  has  thus  far  failed  in  solving  these  problems  satisfactorily  she  has  found  herself 
involved  in  controversies  with  foreign  nations.  These  have  created  an  unrest  that  hampers  her  internal 
development  and  have  made  her  feel  that  her  national  existence  is  threatened  by  powerful  neighbors  without 
and  by  weakness  within. f 

The  most  important  result  of  the  recommendations  of  this  Commission  was  the 
refunding  of  the  Liberian  debts  through  a  loan  of  $1,608,000  by  a  group  of  American 
bankers,  with  British,  French,  and  German  associates.  The  loan  was  guaranteed  by 
control  of  the  customs  and  other  assigned  revenues  which  were  placed  under  an  inter- 
national receivership  with  an  American  agent.  This  loan  was  not  adequate  and  the 
financial  situation  of  Liberia  was  further  embarrassed  by  the  war.  The  republic  ap- 
pealed to  the  United  States  Government  in  January,  1918,  for  a  loan  of  $5,000,000 

*Rcport  of  Secretary  of  State  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  1910,  page  85. 

tibid.,  page  89. 


LIBERIA 


803 


to  pay  all  indebtedness  and  to  reorganize  the  economic  affairs  of  theRepublic.  The  loan 
was  approved  in  August,  1918,  by  President  Wilson,  and  the  Lil)erian  Government  was 
advised  of  the  establishment  of  a  $5,000,000  credit  and  the  conditions  attached  thereto. 
The  credit  was  accepted  by  the  Liberian  Government  and  arrangements  were  made  to 
carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  loan.  In  June,  1920,  the  Liberian  Legislature  requested 
certain  modifications  in  the  loan  plan.  A  Liberian  Commission  later  proceeded  to 
America.  In  June,  1921,  the  Secretary  of  State  expressed  the  opinion  that  "in  view 
of  the  time  elapsed  since  the  establishment  of  the  credit  and  of  the  questions  that  might 
be  raised  as  to  the  propriety  of  advancing  money  to  Liberia  as  a  war  measure,  it  was 
hoped  Congress  would  by  joint  resolution  authorize  specifically  the  proposed  loan." 
Pending  this  action  by  Congress,  Liberia  was  informed  that  the  credit  was  withdrawn. 
A  new  plan  of  loan  was  formulated  jointly  by  the  Liberian  Commission  and  the  State 
Department.  The  terms  were  approved  by  the  Liberian  Legislature  in  January,  1922. 
President  Harding  has  presented  the  loan  and  its  terms  to  Congress.  The  House  has 
already  acted  favorably.  The  Senate  Committee  has  recommended  the  loan  to  the 
Senate  and  favorable  action  seems  probable. 

The  terms  of  this  loan  are  so  vital  to  the  future  of  Liberia  as  to  merit  description 
herewith : 

Article  I  outlines  the  large  expenditures  to  be  made  from  the  loan.  These  include  $1,650,000  to  redeem 
the  bonded  indebtedness;  $350,000  for  internal  floating  debt;  $233,000  for  internal  funded  debt;  an  advance 
of  $348,000  for  emergency  purposes  in  connection  with  the  immediate  execution  of  the  present  plan  and  other 
smaller  expenditures. 

Articles  II  and  III  indicate  the  manner  in  which  advances  of  money  shall  be  made  against  the  obli- 
gations of  the  Liberian  Government. 

Article  IV  states  that  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  United  States  loan  shall  be  secured  as  a  charge 
on  all  customs  revenues  payable  to  Liberia;  on  all  revenues  of  the  rubber  tax,  head  money,  postal  revenues, 
and  all  other  revenues. 

Article  V.  The  Government  of  Liberia  agrees  first,  that  a  financial  commission  is  to  have  charge  of  the 
collection,  application,  and  administration  of  all  the  assigned  revenues  and  receipts  in  accordance  with  the 
plan  outlined  in  the  agreement.  The  financial  commission  is  to  be  composed  of  a  financial  commissioner  at  a 
salary  of  $15,000  per  annum;  a  deputy-financial  commissioner  at  $10,000  per  annum;  an  auditor  at  $6,000; 
three  administrative  assistants  at  $6,000  each  to  be  assigned  as  comptroller-general  of  the  customs,  com- 
missioner-general of  the  interior,  and  director-general  of  sanitation;  ten  administrative  assistants  at  $4,000, 
to  be  assigned  as  follows:  Three  comptrollers  of  customs,  three  district  commissioners,  two  technical  advisors 
on  roads  and  posts,  an  accountant,  and  an  agricultural  advisor;  two  administrative  assistants  at  $3,000  each. 
All  members  of  the  financial  commission  shall  be  designated  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  serve 
during  his  pleasure,  and  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President  of  Liberia.  AU  Liberian  oflScials  who  may  be 
appointed  by  the  Government  of  Liberia  to  serve  in  connection  with  the  collection,  application,  and  adminis- 
tration of  the  assigned  revenues  and  receipts  shall  serve  under  the  financial  commission.  The  secretary  of 
the  treasury  of  Liberia  and  the  financial  commissions  shall  cooperate  to  bring  order  and  system  into  the 
finances  of  the  Government  of  Liberia.  The  second  provision  is  that  the  government  agrees,  upon  the  request 
of  the  financial  commission,  to  provide  by  law,  adequate  revenue  guard  and  patrol  service,  both  on  land 
and  sea.  The  third  agreement  is  to  maintain  a  frontier  force  sufficient  to  assure  internal  peace.  The  strength 
of  the  force  shall  be  fixed  by  agreement  between  the  Government  of  Liberia  and  the  financial  commission. 
The  President  of  the  United  States  is  to  designate  four  ofiicials  of  military  experience  to  serve  as  the  four 
senior  officers  of  the  frontier  force,  and  the  Secretary  of  State  may  suggest  a  definite  scheme  for  the  reorgani- 
zation of  the  frontier  force.  Other  parts  of  the  agreement  provide  that  the  financial  commissioner  shall  not. 


304 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


without  the  consent  of  the  Secretary  of  State  of  tlie  United  States,  approve  any  proposed  budget  in  which 
the  current  expenses  of  the  I^iberian  Government,  including  the  expenses  of  the  financial  commissioner, 
shall  exceed  $500,000  per  annum;  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  Liberia  in  accordance  with  recom- 
mendations of  the  financial  commissioner  shall  from  time  to  time  prepare  and  submit  to  the  Legislature  for 
enactment  into  law  a  draft  of  a  bill  revising  the  customs  duties  and  other  revenues  of  the  Liberian  Govern- 
ment. 

Article  VI  provides  that  the  revenues  shall  be  applied  first  to  the  expenses  of  the  financial  commission; 
then  to  the  budgeted  administration  expense  of  Liberia;  then  to  payment  of  interest  on  United  States  loans, 
and  if  there  be  a  surplus,  one-half  shall  be  applied  to  the  principal  of  the  loan  and  the  other  half  to  the 
payment  of  any  other  amount  which  the  financial  commission  may  by  further  agreement  between  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  and  the  Government  of  Liberia  be  required  to  pay. 

Article  VIII  states  that  the  life  of  the  United  States  loan  shall  be  deemed  to  be  the  period  from  the  date 
of  the  agreement  until  all  the  advances  made  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  the  Government  of 
Liberia  shall  have  been  fully  repaid  with  interest. 

The  important  reorganizations  proposed  by  the  terms  of  this  loan  give  rise  to  two 
important  questions  that  should  be  clearly  considered  by  those  who  are  endeavoring 
to  forecast  the  future  possibilities  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia.  The  first  question  relates 
to  the  proposed  uses  to  be  made  by  the  Liberian  Government  of  the  $5,000,000  credit 
and  the  probable  resources  of  that  government  for  the  payment  of  the  loan.  The 
second  question  is  concerned  with  the  effect  of  the  loan  and  the  plans  for  its  administra- 
tion on  the  Republic  of  Liberia  and  its  future  possibilities.  As  to  the  proposed  uses 
of  the  loan,  the  following  quotation  gives  a  general  outline  of  the  present  intentions : 


Refunding  present  indebtedness   $2,189,614 

Advances  on  account  of  Liberian  Budget  for  Administrative  expenses  (during  a 

term  of  five  years)   500,000 

Road  construction  (over  a  program  of  five  years)   482,700 

Telegraphic  communications   75,000 

Harbor  buoys  and  lighthouses   24,000 

Port  works  at  Monrovia  (over  a  program  of  three  years)   700,000 

Maintenance  and  other  public  works  of  minor  importance,  outfitting  of  frontier 

force,  motor  launch  for  revenue  service,  etc   135,000 

Customhouse,  Monrovia,  and  repairs  to  customhouses  at  other  points     ....  100,000 


Total  $4,206,314 


In  addition,  there  are  certain  measures  of  sanitation  which  must  be  taken  in  Liberia, 
necessary  minor  improvements  at  other  ports  than  Monrovia,  certain  scientific  instruction  in 
agricultural  pursuits,  and  the  question  of  potable  water  supply  at  Monrovia,  all  of  which  must 
be  provided,  as  well  as  may  be,  from  the  remainder  of  the  $5,000,000  in  keeping  with  plans  to  be 
agreed  upon  by  the  Liberian  Government  and  the  financial  commission. 

The  most  important  financial  measure  of  Liberia's  ability  to  pay  the  debt  is  a 
statement  of  the  customs  revenues  as  they  have  been  collected  for  the  past  few  years. 
In  1913,  before  commerce  was  disturbed  by  the  Great  War,  the  customs  amounted  to 
$485,639.74.  This  sum  decreased  under  war  conditions  until  the  amount  in  1917 
was  only  $163,634.26.  In  the  years  following  the  war  the  revenues  increased  again 
until  they  amounted  to  $346,361.27.  The  more  effective  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment proposed  by  the  plan  will  not  only  make  available  a  larger  customs  revenue 


LIBERIA 


806 


and  a  more  complete  system  of  taxation  throughout  the  repubHc,  but  it  will  also,  in  all 
probability, greatly  increase  the  commercial,  industrial,  and  agricultural  activities  of  the 
country  with  the  consequent  enlargement  of  all  returns  to  the  government.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  those  who  are  competent  to  i)ass  on  the  financial  soundness  of  the  plan  that 
Liberia  will  be  able  to  meet  its  obligations  within  a  period  of  fifteen  to  twenty  years. 
If  this  should  prove  to  be  true  the  plan  will  be  fully  justified  on  an  economic  basis. 

The  second  question  is  concerned  with  the  effect  of  the  loan  and  the  method  of  its 
administration  upon  the  welfare  of  the  Liberian  people.  Will  the  arrangement  make 
it  possible  for  the  United  States  to  cooperate  effectively  with  the  Liberian  Government 
in  solving  the  difficult  problems  outlined  by  the  Commission  of  1909,  problems  which 
were  then  of  such  a  nature  as  "to  hamper  Liberia's  internal  development  and  make  her 
feel  that  her  national  existence  is  threatened  by  powerful  neighbors  without  and  by 
weakness  within.''"  After  years  of  deliberation  the  Liberian  Government  has  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  it  is  to  the  interest  of  Liberia  to  share  her  authority  with  the  United 
States  in  the  appointment  of  the  financial  commission  on  terms  already  described. 
The  Commission  thus  represents  the  genuine  cooperation  of  Liberia  and  the  United 
States  in  the  difficult  task  of  reorganizing  the  financial  affairs  of  the  republic.  The 
terms  of  the  agreement  indicate  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  financial  success  of 
the  republic  depends  upon  the  general  welfare  of  the  country  and  its  people,  including 
national  health,  national  education,  national  agriculture,  industry,  and  commerce, 
and  national  morality.  To  the  realization  of  these  elements  of  national  welfare  the 
Commission  is  to  apply  its  funds  and  its  powers.  The  Liberian  Government  has  indi- 
cated that  the  future  of  the  republic  depends  upon  the  success  of  the  plan  to  which 
Liberia  has  asked  the  United  States  to  be  a  party.  The  success  of  the  plan  depends  upon 
the  sincerity  with  which  the  two  governments  carry  out  the  terms  of  the  agreement. 

II— EDUCATION 

Part  I  of  this  chapter,  dealing  with  the  economic  and  sociological  backgrounds, 
indicates  both  the  vital  educational  needs  of  Liberia  and  the  great  difficulties  of 
developing  an  eflfective  educational  system.  The  masses  of  virile  Native  people 
and  the  extensive  economic  resources  point  to  the  educational  possibilities  of  the  repub- 
lic. The  marked  differentiation  of  the  small  group  of  Americo-Liberians  from  the 
Native  masses  and  the  conditions  threatening  the  government  both  within  and  with- 
out present  serious  obstacles  to  the  development  of  an  educational  system  adequate 
to  the  needs  of  the  masses  and  adapted  to  prepare  Native  leadership  to  deal  with  the 
hygienic,  economic,  and  moral  needs  of  the  republic. 

Hitherto  the  educational  efforts  have  been  limited  in  extent  and  directed  almost 
exclusively  to  the  coast  groups.  The  government  has  been  able  to  contribute  very 
little  of  financial  help  or  direction  to  the  school  needs  of  any  part  of  the  republic. 
Mission  boards  have  worked  heroically  and  with  some  success  in  the  coast  settlements, 
and  in  exceptional  cases  in  the  interior  immediately  back  of  the  coast.  Without  the 
help  of  the  American  colonization  societies  and  the  mission  boards,  the  educational 


306 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


conditions  of  even  the  coast  groups  would  be  in  a  more  lamentable  condition  than  that 
now  existing.  The  educational  facilities  are  not  only  very  inadequate  in  extent,  but 
they  are  seriously  lacking  in  many  elements  needed  by  a  people  struggling  under  pioneer 
conditions  of  food  supply  and  government. 

In  order  to  present  a  conservative  estimate  of  the  educational  needs,  the  lowest 
possible  figures  for  children  of  school  age  are  used,  and  the  most  optimistic  reports 
of  school  attendance  are  accepted.  On  the  basis  of  50,000  people  in  the  civilized  coast 
groups  and  the  Natives  associated  with  them,  the  children  of  school  age  would  probably 
number  10,000.  The  interior  would  have  a  school  population  somewhere  between 
200,000  and  400,000.  According  to  the  1921  report  of  the  Liberian  Secretary  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction,  the  total  enrollment  of  pupils  was  7,513,  practically  all  of  whom  are  in 
mission  schools.  Comparison  of  this  enrollment  with  the  10,000  children  of  the  civil- 
ized coast  groups  shows  the  inadequacy  even  for  these  favored  settlements,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  200,000  or  400,000  Native  children  of  the  interior,  practically  un- 
touched by  any  educational  influence.  The  mission  boards  maintaining  schools, 
together  with  the  total  enrollment  as  reported  by  the  government,  are  as  follows: 
Methodist  Episcopal,  2,126;  Protestant  Episcopal,  2,114;  Baptist,  848;  Catholic, 
740;  Lutheran,  492;  African  Methodist  Episcopal,  338.  The  future  activities  of  these 
boards  depend  very  much  upon  the  relation  to  be  established  between  Liberia  and  the 
United  States  through  the  American  loan.  The  loan  will  open  up  the  country  through 
more  and  better  roads,  will  improve  conditions  of  sanitation,  and  will  stimulate  eco- 
nomic development  so  that  educational  activities  may  be  extended  into  the  interior 
and  the  interest  of  the  Natives  aroused  in  community  improvements.  Under  the 
leadership  of  bishops  and  other  ofiicers  of  church  boards,  the  missions  are  already  plan- 
ning to  tend  and  improve  their  schools.  A  very  promising  step  in  this  direction  has 
been  the  creation  of  a  board  of  education  through  an  executive  order.  This  board  is 
composed  of  the  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  and  Protestant  Episcopal  churches 
and  the  officers  of  the  National  Baptist  Convention  and  the  Lutheran  Church  Board. 
The  members  of  this  board  are  to  work  "under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  Public 
Instruction,  and  they  are  given  full  power  to  formulate  such  plans  and  policies  as  may 
be  deemed  best  calculated  to  standardize  and  improve  all  graded  schools  of  the 
republic." 

Government  Education 

The  Government  Bureau  of  Education  was  established  in  1900.  It  was  reported 
that  the  legislative  appropriation  in  1913  amounted  to  almost  $20,000.  The  1921 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  Public  Instruction,  however,  states  that  the  appropriation 
for  the  year  was  only  $873.75.  The  expenditures  from  this  amount  were  $751.06,  in- 
cluding $467.94  for  teachers'  salaries;  $186.62,  clerk  and  messenger;  $41.28,  suppUes; 
travel  expenses,  $27.12;  rent  for  schoolhouses,  $9.00;  bank  commission,  $19.10.  The 
following  appeal  from  the  Secretary  to  the  Legislature  of  Liberia  is  significant: 

Your  honorable  body  will  readily  see  from  the  above  related  conditions  how  utterly  impossible  it  is  to 
effectively  conduct  this  department,  to  maintain  anything  like  a  decent  public  school  system,  or  to  call  in 
the  aid  of  efBcient  and  qualified  teachers.  I  must  frankly  admit  that  the  situation  at  present  is  almost 


LIBERIA  S07 

intolerable.  This  generation  of  ehildren  is  being  shamefully  robbed  of  advantages  and  being  hopelessly 
crippled  for  future  usefulness  to  the  state.  A  remedy  for  such  a  stateof  affairs  must  be  found  and  the  preva- 
lent neglect  of  tiie  training  of]  the  minds  of  the  young  must  not  be  countenanced  longer  if  we  would  feel 
secure  about  the  future  of  the  country. 

The  only  government  educational  institution  of  consequence  is  Liberia  College. 
This  is  at  present  a  school  of  elementary  grade  with  two  or  three  classes  studying  sub- 
jects of  secondary  grade,  includmg  English,  Latm,  French,  history,  hygiene,  and 
science.  At  the  time  of  visit  the  classes  were  convened  on  the  second  floor  of  the 
legislative  hall,  a  large  open  room  with  the  classes  arranged  in  the  various  parts  of  the 
room.  The  total  enrollment,  according  to  the  government  report,  is  161  students, 
with  a  teaching  staff  of  seven  persons.  The  enrollment  and  teaching  staff  observed, 
however,  were  considerably  below  these  numbers.  The  school  receives  a  small  gov- 
ernment appropriation  and  gifts  from  American  colonization  societies.  The  institu- 
tion was  begun  in  1863.  The  large  buildmg,  which  was  occupied  for  a  number  of  years, 
is  now  in  such  need  of  repairs  as  to  be  unsafe  for  occupation.  Its  location  on  a  field 
of  boulders  is  unsuitable  to  any  instruction  in  agriculture,  and  the  course  has  been 
so  literary  in  character  as  to  exclude  any  activities  related  to  the  physical  improvement 
of  the  plant  or  industrial  conditions  of  the  republic.  While  the  graduates  of  the  school 
have  obtained  considerable  knowledge  of  literature  and  theory  of  government,  they 
have  received  very  little  preparation  to  deal  with  the  vital  needs  of  Liberia. 

The  Caroline  Donovan  Institute  at  Grand  Bassa  has  been  discontinued  owing  to 
lack  of  funds.  This  school  was  founded  about  1915  through  the  gift  of  $65,000, 
accumulated  interest  of  a  fund.  The  three  buildings  that  were  erected  have  been  un- 
occupied for  over  a  year.  Recently  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Board  has  taken  over  the 
institution  and  at  present  a  Native  clergyman  and  four  assistants  are  giving  instruction 
to  about  100  boarding  pupils. 

Protestant  Episcopal  Missions 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Board  has  maintained  a  number  of  schools  in  Liberia 
for  many  years.  These  schools  are  distributed  along  the  350  miles  of  coast  with  a  few 
in  the  interior  of  the  country.  According  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  PubHc  In- 
struction for  1921  there  were  42  schools  with  82  teachers  and  2,114  pupils.  The  larger 
institutions  are  located  at  Cape  Mount,  near  the  northern  end  of  the  coast,  where 
there  are  two  boarding  schools,  one  for  boys  and  one  for  girls;  at  Cape  Palmas,  near 
the  southern  end  of  the  coast,  where  there  are  also  two  schools,  one  for  boys  and  one 
for  girls;  and  the  third  center  is  at  Bromley,  on  the  St.  Paul  River,  a  few  miles  back  of 
Monrovia,  where  there  is  a  school  for  girls.  A  second  group  of  schools  have  two  or 
three  teachers  each,  and  the  remaining  schools  are  reported  to  have  one  teacher. 
A  number  of  the  smaller  institutions  have  boarding  pupils.  Until  recently  schools  of 
this  society  have  lacked  adequate  supervision.  The  instruction  has  not  been  related 
to  the  community  needs  and  many  of  the  plants  have  been  in  bad  repair.  There 
are  now  definite  evidences  that  the  administration  of  these  schools  is  to  be  strength- 
ened.   Under  the  direction  of  the  Bishop,  a  capable  commission  has  completed  an 


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EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


interesting  and  instructive  study  of  the  interior  of  the  country.  Some  of  the  obser- 
vations of  this  commission  have  been  reported  in  another  part  of  this  chapter.  The 
plans  now  under  consideration  by  the  Bishop  and  his  associates  give  promise  of  impor- 
tant improvements  in  the  personnel  and  methods  of  work,  and  the  repair  of  plants. 
The  Order  of  the  Holy  Cross  has  decided  to  establish  mission  work  in  Liberia.  Aheady 
some  members  of  the  Order  have  begun  work  in  the  interior.  A  considerable 
proportion  of  the  ministers  and  teachers  of  the  Episcopal  missions  are  white  Ameri- 
cans. 

Cape  Mount  Episcopal  Schools 

The  St.  John's  Academy  and  Industrial  School  offers  instruction  up  to  the  seventh 
grade,  including  industrial  and  agricultural  training.  The  industrial  departments 
are  masonry  and  building,  printing,  shoemaking,  tailoring,  and  machinery.  The  staff 
includes  seven  male  teachers  with  Native  assistants.  The  enrollment  includes  100  boys 
in  the  boarding  department  and  60  in  the  day  school.  The  plant  consists  of  five  build- 
ings, three  of  which  are  three-story  structures.  Two  are  used  as  classrooms  and  dor- 
mitories for  pupils  and  teachers,  and  the  other  is  devoted  entirely  to  industrial  train- 
ing. There  is  also  another  small  building  devoted  to  industrial  training,  besides 
a  large  stone  church. 

The  Bethany  Girls'  School,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  has  30  boarding 
pupils  and  70  day  pupils.  This  school  is  under  the  direction  of  two  white  American 
women,  assisted  by  foiu-  colored  teachers.  The  course  covers  six  grades,  with  teacher 
training  for  the  older  girls.  There  are  two  buildings,  one  containing  a  school  hall, 
a  dormitory  for  girls,  and  rooms  for  teachers,  the  other,  a  smaller  building,  serving  as 
a  residence  for  teachers. 

St.  Timothy's  Hospital  is  under  the  direction  of  two  white  American  nurses 
with  four  Native  nurses  who  visit  Native  towns  where  dispensaries  have  been  estab- 
Ushed.  The  plant  consists  of  a  stone  building  of  four  rooms  and  a  large  veranda. 
Twenty  cots  are  maintained  in  the  hospital. 

Cape  Palmas  Episcopal  Schools 

The  educational  activities  maintained  by  the  Episcopal  Board  in  the  Cape  Palmas 
region  are  fairly  extensive.  In  the  town  of  Harper  there  are  the  Brierly  Memorial 
Girls'  School,  four  day  schools,  one  large  cement  block  church,  one  frame  church, 
and  a  three-story  brick  building  now  used  for  an  old  people's  home.  At  Vaughn, 
three  miles  from  Harper,  there  is  a  station  that  includes  a  stone  church  and  a  frame 
school  building  with  fifteen  acres  of  land.  At  this  school  there  are  30  boarding  pupils 
and  25  day  pupils,  with  two  Americo-Liberian  teachers  and  one  Native  teacher. 
The  Cuttington  School,  a  large  institution  for  boys,  is  five  miles  in  the  mterior.  The 
activities  in  all  of  these  institutions  are  under  the  immediate  direction  of  Americo- 
Liberians  and  Native  teachers. 

The  Brierly  Memorial  Girls'  School  has  50  in  the  boarding  department  and  31  in 
the  day  school.   The  instruction  covers  six  grades,  with  special  instruction  in  sewing. 


LIBERIA 


309 


The  teachers  are  four  Americo-Liberians  and  four  Natives.  The  plant  consists  of  a 
large  stone  building  of  three  stories,  used  for  classrooms  and  dormitory. 

The  Cuttington  College  and  Divinity  School  has  rendered  an  important  educational 
service  in  the  past.  The  staff  consists  of  six  Americo-Liberians  and  five  Natives.  The 
course  covers  the  elementary  grades,  secondary  subjects,  and  special  instruction  for 
pupils  preparing  to  enter  the  ministry.  The  enrollment  includes  100  boys  in  the  board- 
ing department,  six  of  whom  are  preparing  to  be  ministers.  The  plant  consists  of  a 
large  stone  building  containing  two  halls,  seven  classrooms,  dormitories,  and  teachers' 
rooms.   There  are  also  four  residences  for  teachers  and  225  acres  of  land. 

Bromley  Girls'  School 

The  Bromley  Girls'  School,  located  on  the  St.  Paul  River,  sixteen  miles  from  Mon- 
rovia, offers  instruction  in  six  elementary  grades,  including  some  work  in  sewing 
and  cooking.  About  60  pupils  are  enrolled,  most  of  whom  are  in  the  boarding  depart- 
ment. There  were  only  three  girls  in  the  sixth  grade  and  eight  in  the  fifth  grade.  Though 
there  is  ample  land  about  the  school,  the  girls  receive  practically  no  training  in  gar- 
dening. The  school  is  under  the  supervision  of  a  colored  woman  from  America,  assisted 
by  Americo-Liberian  and  Native  teachers.  The  plant  consists  of  a  large  brick  build- 
ing and  250  acres  of  land.  At  the  time  of  visit  the  building  was  in  bad  repair. 

There  are  several  other  schools  requiring  special  mention.  The  Donovan  Industrial 
School,  which  the  government  has  been  unable  to  maintain,  has  been  taken  over  by 
the  Episcopal  Mission,  and  is  now  under  the  direction  of  three  Americo-Liberians 
and  two  Native  teachers,  with  100  boarding  pupils  receiving  instruction  through  eight 
grades,  including  some  training  in  agriculture.  The  Holy  Cross  Order  has  organized 
a  school  at  Massambalahum  in  the  northwest  corner  of  Liberia,  not  far  from  the 
English  and  French  boundary  lines.  The  Order  plans  to  maintain  a  large  boys' 
school  with  an  industrial  plant  and  hospital  facilities.  The  Bendoo  Mission  Station 
in  the  Vai  country  includes  a  school  under  the  direction  of  a  white  clergyman  with  one 
Americo-Liberian  and  five  Native  teachers.  There  are  50  pupils  in  the  boarding 
department  and  20  in  the  day  school.  At  Monrovia  there  is  Trinity  School  with  100 
pupils  and  the  Krutown  Day  School  with  70  pupils.  The  religious  work  of  the  Epis- 
copal Mission  in  Monrovia  wields  an  important  influence  in  the  town. 

Lutheran  Church  Missions 

The  Lutheran  Mission  Board  has  done  a  unique  educational  service  in  that  the 
efforts  have  been  directed  almost  exclusively  to  the  Native  tribes  of  the  interior. 
Headquarters  for  the  work  are  at  the  Muhlenberg  Mission,  located  on  the  St.  Paul 
River  just  beyond  the  head  of  navigation.  From  this  point  the  workers  have  reached 
out  to  contiguous  areas  where  they  have  organized  three  other  mission  stations.  They 
are  now  actively  engaged  in  extending  their  influence  still  further  into  the  interior. 
According  to  the  government  report,  they  maiatain  seven  schools  with  an  enrollment 
of  492  pupils.  They  have  21  white  American  missionaries  and  30  Native  workers. 
Considerable  attention  is  given  to  gardening  and  industrial  training.   Each  mission 


310 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


station  maintains  not  only  a  central  school,  but  several  outstation  schools  in  the 
villages. 

Muhlenberg  Mission  Boys'  School 

The  Muhlenberg  Mission  Boys'  School  offers  instruction  of  elementary  grade 
with  training  in  agriculture  and  simple  industries.  The  agricultural  work  includes 
gardening,  cattle  raising,  and  coflFee  growing.  The  handicrafts  are  carpentry,  tailor- 
ing, shoemaking,  and  printing.  The  morning  is  spent  in  classroom  instruction  and  the 
afternoon  in  various  forms  of  industry  and  agriculture.  The  staflE  consists  of  four 
white  Americans  and  six  Native  helpers.  There  are  40  pupils  of  whom  35  are  boarders. 
The  plant  consists  of  a  large  well-built  cement  block  church  and  several  frame 
buildings,  including  a  dwelling  for  missionaries,  a  boys'  dormitory,  an  industrial 
building,  and  several  smaller  buildings.  Some  of  the  buildings  are  very  old  and  in  bad 
repair.  There  are  also  100  acres  of  land  with  farm  machinery  and  a  herd  of  20  cattle. 

Muhlenberg  Institute  for  Girls 

This  school  offers  instruction  through  the  fifth  grade,  including  effective  training 
in  gardening,  cooking,  serving,  general  housework,  and  nursing.  The  work  is  under 
the  direction  of  three  white  American  women  with  Native  helpers.  The  training  is 
effective  and  especially  well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  students.  There  are  50  girls 
enrolled,  most  of  whom  board  at  the  school.  The  plant  comprises  a  large  cement 
building,  erected  at  considerable  cost.  The  school  has  been  especially  unfortunate  in 
the  construction  of  this  building,  however.  As  a  result  of  mistakes  of  the  American  in 
charge  of  the  construction,  the  building  does  not  fulfill  the  purposes  of  the  home 
society  nor  of  the  workers  on  the  field. 

Kpolopepe  Station  School 

The  Kpolopepe  school  is  located  75  miles  in  the  interior.  It  offers  instruction 
of  elementary  grade  with  considerable  work  in  gardening  and  handicrafts.  The 
school  is  under  the  direction  of  a  white  American  principal  and  his  wife  and  five 
Native  teachers.  There  are  55  boys,  all  boarders.  The  handicrafts  include  carpen- 
try, tailoring,  and  Native  building.  The  agricultural  activities  include  the  cultivation 
of  gardens,  producing  bananas  and  pineapples,  and  growing  groves  of  palm  oil  trees. 
The  plant  consists  of  a  home  for  missionaries,  a  school  building,  and  a  boys'  dormitory. 
All  the  buildings  are  hardwood  frame  structures  with  clay  walls.  There  is  also  a  tract 
of  land  of  about  100  acres. 

Bethel  Station  School 

Bethel  Station  School  is  located  one  day's  journey  from  the  Muhlenberg  Mission. 
It  offers  instruction  in  four  elementary  grades  with  much  training  in  farm  work  and 
handicrafts.  The  staff  includes  a  white  American  and  three  Native  assistants.  There 
are  44  boys,  all  boarders.  The  plant  consists  of  a  frame  building  used  as  a  school- 
house  and  dormitory  for  the  boys,  and  another  frame  building  used  as  a  teachers' 


LIBERIA 


811 


residence.  The  residence  of  the  missionaries  and  several  smaller  buildings  are  con- 
structed of  mud  with  thatched  roofs.  The  station  has  250  acres  of  land,  of  which  three 
acres  are  in  the  mission  compound  and  ten  acres  are  cultivated. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Missions 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Board  has  maintained  activities  along  the  coast  of  Liberia 
from  Monrovia  to  Cape  Palmas,  with  a  few  schools  among  the  Native  peoples  immedi- 
ately back  of  the  coast.  According  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  Public  Instruction 
for  1921  the  mission  maintained  32  schools  with  a  total  enrollment  of  2,126.  The 
central  institutions  of  the  school  system  are  the  College  of  West  Africa  at  Monrovia 
and  the  Seminary  at  Cape  Palmas.  Most  of  the  others  are  day  schools  with  one  or  two 
teachers.  The  Methodist  missions  have  exerted  an  important  influence  on  the 
Americo-Liberians,  the  Ej*u  Tribe,  and  some  of  the  other  Native  peoples.  The  build- 
ings and  equipment  are  in  very  bad  repair.  The  supervision  has  evidently  not  been 
adequate.  The  society  is  now  constructing  three  schools  in  different  sections  of  the 
coast  region  for  industrial  and  agricultural  training.  Under  the  wise  administration 
of  the  bishop  in  charge  the  educational  activities  are  being  enlarged  and  suited  to 
the  needs  of  the  people. 

Monrovia  Methodist  Episcopal  Schools 

The  Methodist  schools  at  Monrovia,  including  the  College  of  West  Africa  and  the 
Patten  Memorial  School  in  Krutown,  are  the  largest  and  best  equipped  educational 
institutions  of  the  town.  Other  smaller  schools  are  located  in  the  general  environ- 
ment of  Monrovia  and  on  the  St.  Paul  River.  The  most  important  of  these  is  the  White 
Plains  Industrial  Institute,  now  being  constructed.  A  building  to  accommodate  75 
pupils  has  already  been  completed. 

The  College  of  West  Africa  maintains  classes  of  elementary  and  secondary  grade. 
Of  the  353  pupils  enrolled  in  1920,  26  were  in  the  four  secondary  classes.  There  were 
241  boys  and  112  girls,  all  day  pupils.  The  staff  consists  of  ten  teachers,  six  men  and 
four  women.  Of  these,  four  are  American  Negroes  and  six  are  Natives  of  Liberia. 
The  subjects  of  the  secondary  classes  indicate  the  desire  of  the  principal  to  prepare 
the  pupils  to  teach.  They  include  civics,  pedagogy,  and  history  of  education.  Effort 
is  made  to  give  instruction  in  plain  and  fancy  needlework,  printing,  and  gardening. 
The  plant  consists  of  a  brick  building  erected  in  1848  and  a  small  frame  building. 
Both  structures  were  in  bad  repair  and  very  much  overcrowded  at  the  time  of  visit. 
The  location  of  the  institution  in  the  middle  of  the  town  hampers  its  development. 

The  Stokes  Theological  Training  School  was  originally  planned  to  offer  training 
for  religious  work.  At  the  time  of  visit  the  work  was  conducted  by  a  colored  clergy- 
man and  his  wife,  both  from  America.  The  reported  enrollment  was  18  men,  most  of 
them  employed  during  the  day  in  government  or  commercial  offices.  About  six  at- 
tended with  some  degree  of  regularity.  The  instruction  consists  of  talks  given  by  the 
clergyman  in  charge  on  the  Bible  and  simple  theological  subjects.  The  building  is 
of  substantial  construction  with  three  stories  and  an  attic.   The  groimd  floor  is  used 


312 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


as  a  residence  and  for  classrooms.  The  second  floor  is  used  for  classes  and  there  is 
room  for  books.  The  third  floor  is  used  for  residence.  The  attic  is  an  open,  un- 
finished room  used  for  storage  and  for  sleeping  quarters  for  a  few  pupils. 

Cape  Palmas  Methodist  Schools 

The  Methodist  schools  in  the  Cape  Palmas  region  include  the  Seminary  and  sev- 
eral small  day  schools.  The  Cape  Palmas  Seminary  maintains  classes  of  elementary 
grade  with  some  instruction  in  secondary  subjects.  The  reported  enrollment  is  165, 
of  whom  80  were  girls  and  85  were  boys.  A  small  boarding  department  with  five 
boys  and  seven  girls  is  maintained.  The  plant  and  the  compound  are  seriously  in 
need  of  repairs. 

The  mission  stations  in  other  parts  of  Liberia  are  maintaining  small  central  schools 
with  some  outstation  schools.  The  Sinoe  River  Industrial  Mission  has  industrial 
and  agricultural  activities  of  educational  value.  These  are  now  being  improved  and 
enlarged.  The  Hartzell  Institute  in  Lower  Buchanan  is  being  strengthened  through 
the  addition  of  a  new  building  for  school  purposes.  The  Nana  Kru  Mission  has  a  school 
with  80  boarders  and  a  number  of  day  pupils.  The  plant  is  substantial  and  there  is 
a  farm.  The  Garraway  Mission  has  a  number  of  sub-stations.  Considerable  attention 
is  given  to  education  and  the  pupils  are  required  to  assist  in  simple  industrial  and 
agricultural  operations. 

Baptist  Mission  Schools 

The  Baptist  Mission  Schools  are  maintained  by  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the 
National  Baptist  Convention  and  the  Lott  Carey  Baptist  Mission.  According  to 
the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  Public  Instruction  for  1921,  there  were  13  Baptist  schools 
with  an  enrollment  of  848.  These  schools  are  in  the  coast  region.  The  instruction 
is  as  yet  limited  to  the  elementary  grades.  Some  of  the  schools  provide  training 
in  handicrafts  and  gardening. 

The  National  Baptist  Convention  schools  are  directed  by  a  superintendent  of  con- 
siderable educational  experience  who  is  now  organizing  a  seminary  and  training  school 
at  Monrovia  for  the  purpose  of  equipping  teachers  for  the  mission  schools.  This  mis- 
sion has  six  schools  with  a  reported  enrollment  of  326  pupils.  The  Lott  Carey  Mission 
has  five  schools  with  a  total  enrollment  of  494.  Its  largest  institution  at  Brewerville 
has  eight  teachers  and  182  pupils.  Recently  this  school  has  added  a  two-story  cement 
building.  The  Ricks  Institute  in  Montserrado  County  is  supported  and  conducted 
by  the  Baptist  Association  of  the  county.  It  is  reported  to  have  three  teachers 
and  28  pupils. 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Schools 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  Public  Instruction  for  1921,  the  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  has  eight  schools  with  a  total  enrollment  of  388.  With 
the  exception  of  the  schools  at  Monrovia  and  Cape  Palmas  they  are  all  day  schools 
with  one  teacher  each.  At  Monrovia  and  Caj)e  Palmas  there  are  two  teachers  in  each 
school.  The  mission  is  just  completing  the  new  building  of  the  Monrovia  College  and 


LIBERIA 


313 


Industrial  Training  School.  This  building  is  a  large  three-story  cement  block  struc- 
ture which  has  cost  $35,000.  The  ground  floor  lias  one  large  room  and  smaller  class- 
rooms. The  second  floor  has  an  auditorium,  president's  office,  and  four  classroom.s. 
The  third  floor  is  to  be  used  as  a  dormitory  and  has  twenty-five  rooms  large  enough 
to  accommodate  two  or  three  boys  in  each  room.  There  is  a  one-story  extension  to  be 
used  as  a  dining-room.  The  first  and  second  floors  are  surrounded  by  verandas  made 
entirely  of  cement  blocks.  There  is  also  a  smaller  two-story  building  costing  $14,000. 
This  building  has  six  dormitory  rooms  and  space  for  teaching  handicrafts.  The  school 
grounds  include  thirteen  acres  of  land  capable  of  cultivation.  The  bishop  in  charge 
has  excellent  i)lans  for  the  development  of  the  institution,  including  provision  for 
teacher-training  and  instruction  in  handicrafts  and  agriculture. 

Catholic  Mission  Schools 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  Public  Instruction  there  are  five 
Catholic  schools  with  eight  teachers  and  740  pupils.  They  are  all  located  among  the 
Kru  Tribe.  Reports  indicate  that  they  have  substantial  buildings  and  well-trained 
workers. 

Colonization  Societies  in  the  United  States 

Colonization  societies  were  organized  to  assist  in  the  settlement  of  American 
Negroes  at  some  place  in  Africa.  The  first  of  these  organizations  was  the  American 
Colonization  Society,  organized  in  1817  and  incorporated  in  1837.  Other  societies 
were  formed  in  a  number  of  states.  The  first  of  these  were  in  the  states  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia.  These  were  soon  followed  by  societies  in  New  York,  Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  many  others,  both  in  the  North  and  in  the 
South.  Between  1832  and  1847  these  societies  endeavored  to  organize  and  maintain 
separate  settlements  along  various  parts  of  the  Liberian  coast.  In  1847  these  settle- 
ments were  all  united  under  the  republic  with  the  exception  of  "Maryland  in  Liberia." 
which  was  received  into  the  republic  as  Maryland  County  in  1857.  Four  of  these  soci- 
eties have  continued  to  the  present  time.  They  have  had  very  little  influence  on  the 
affairs  of  Liberia.  Their  funds  are  small  and  their  expenditures  have  been  limited 
both  by  the  terms  of  the  gifts  and  by  the  uncertain  conditions  of  education  and  gov- 
ernment in  Liberia. 

The  four  organizations  still  in  existepce  are  the  American  Colonization  Society, 
the  New  York  Colonization  Society,  the  Massachusetts  Colonization  Society  (the  legal 
name  of  which  is  "Trustees  for  Donations  for  Education  in  Liberia"),  and  the  Mary- 
land Colonization  Society.* 

The  American  Colonization  Society  was  intimately  associated  with  the  United 
States  Government  in  the  early  history  of  Liberia.  Its  activities  in  the  purchase 
of  land  at  the  time  of  settlement  in  1822  and  the  organization  of  government  have 
already  been  described.  When  the  society  transferred  to  the  republic  the  land  upon 
which  the  first  settlement  was  made,  alternate  sections  of  land  were  reserved  for  edu- 
cational purposes.   There  is  an  interesting  question  still  remaining  as  to  the  status 

*The  Maryland  Society  is  reported  as  still  in  existence,  though  no  evidence  of  its  present  activities 
could  be  obtained. 


314 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


of  the  sections  reserved  for  education.  Those  concerned  in  the  educational  develop- 
ment of  the  Liberian  people  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  reserved  sections  may  yet  be 
made  available  for  the  extension  and  maintenance  of  education.  In  recent  years 
the  society  has  confined  its  activities  to  donations  in  behalf  of  education.  Conditions 
in  Liberia  have  seriously  perplexed  the  officers  of  the  society  in  their  efforts  to  expend 
their  funds  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  donations.  The  following  quotation 
from  a  statement  of  the  society  describes  the  funds: 

The  American  Colonization  Society  has  a  number  of  trust  funds,  the  income  from  which  is  available 
for  educational  work  in  Liberia. 

The  principal  fund  is  known  as  the  Donovan  Fund,  and  consists  of  a  fund  of  approximately  $70,000. 
The  income  from  this  fund  under  the  terms  of  the  trust  is  applicable  first  for  the  transportation  of  colored 
persons  who  desire  to  emigrate  to  Liberia,  and  if  in  any  year  the  income  from  the  fund  is  not  used  for  that 
purpose  it  is  applicable  for  the  maintenance  of  public  schools  in  Liberia.  For  quite  a  number  of  years  there 
was  no  demand  from  the  Society  for  transportation  of  emigrants  and  the  fund  accumulated  to  the 
extent  of  $65,000.  Inasmuch  as  the  alternative  provision  of  the  trust  required  that  it  be  used  for  the  main- 
tenance of  public  schools  in  Liberia,  we  were  in  somewhat  of  a  quandary  as  to  how  to  apply  the  fund  for  the 
reason  that  there  are  really  no  public  schools  in  Liberia.  Finally  the  legislature  passed  an  act  creating  what 
is  known  as  the  Caroline  Donovan  Industrial  Institute,  declaring  the  same  to  be  a  governmental  school  and 
creating  a  board  of  trustees  for  its  management;  whereupon  the  accumulated  fund,  amounting  to  $65,000, 
was  paid  to  the  Government  of  Liberia  for  the  use  of  this  school.  The  Society  has  no  control  over  the  use  of 
the  funds,  having  placed  the  responsibility  for  expenditure  upon  the  Liberian  Government.  This  was  done 
because  the  trust  provided  that  it  should  be  expended  for  the  maintenance  of  public  schools  and  we  were  not 
in  a  position  to  disburse  the  money  direct  for  such  purpose  and  felt  obliged  to  turn  it  over  to  the  Government. 

The  other  fund  of  any  size  is  known  as  the  Graham  fund,  the  income  from  which  is  available  for  educa- 
tional purposes  in  Liberia.  For  a  number  of  years  we  maintained  about  three  primary  schools  out  of  this  fund 
and  in  later  years  have  maintained  one.  This  latter  school  is  maintained  at  Royesville. 

There  is  another  fund  known  as  the  Hall  School  Fund,  from  the  income  of  which  we  pay  the  salary  of  the 
primary  school  teacher  at  Cape  Palmas. 

The  New  York  Colonization  Society,  organized  in  1829  and  incorporated  in  1855, 
holds  funds  for  the  encouragement  of  education  in  Liberia.  The  more  important  of 
these  funds  are  the  Fulton  Professorship  Fund,  amounting  to  $25,000,  "to  main- 
tain a  professorship  in  Liberia  College,  purchase  Bibles,  for  distribution  to  the  members 
in  the  college,  to  pay  premiums  for  excellence  in  various  branches  of  Science";  the 
"Bloomfield  Ministerial  Scholarship  Fund,  being  the  residue  of  an  estate  to  educate 
young  colored  men,  either  in  the  United  States  or  in  Africa,  to  become  preachers  of 
the  Gospel  or  professors  in  colleges  or  theological  seminaries  in  Africa";  and  the 
Beveridge  Scientific  and  General  Scholarship  Fund,  the  residue  of  an  estate  to  be  in- 
vested as  a  permanent  fund  "to  found  and  endow  scholarships  in  some  college  in 
Liberia  best  calculated  to  secure  to  that  republic  the  benefits  of  Christian  and  scien- 
tific education."  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  emphasis  by  each  of  these  donors  on 
Christian  and  scientific  education.  The  Bloomfield  will  has  the  following  significant 
recommendation : 

I  also  recommend  that  the  schools  in  which  they  may  be  educated  and  to  which  the  funds  may  be  paid 
be  Manual  Labor  Schools,  and  for  two  reasons: 

First — It  will  save  expense,  and  this  bequest  will  educate  the  greater  number. 

Second — I  recommend  that  each  scholar  learn  a  trade,  which  will  be  of  essential  benefit  in  Africa, 
especially  among  the  Native  inhabitants. 


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315 


III— SUMMARY  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

It  is  evident  that  education  in  the  Republic  of  Liberia  is  bound  up  with  other  prob- 
lems of  the  Liberian  Government,  the  condition  of  the  Native  masses  of  primitive 
people,  the  character  of  the  small  group  of  Americo-Liberians,  and  the  efforts  of 
mission  societies  that  have  been  maintaining  schools  for  many  years  among  the  people 
of  the  coast  region.  The  interdependence  of  these  various  elements  presents  a  situa- 
tion that  is  exceedingly  perplexing.  Without  the  solution  of  the  serious  problems  of 
government,  the  educational  and  religious  efforts  of  missions  will  be  very  seriously 
hampered.  Philanthropic  agencies  and  religious  missions  will  necessarily  compare 
the  results  of  their  endeavors  in  behalf  of  the  African  people  under  the  discouraging 
conditions  prevailing  at  present  in  Liberia  with  those  that  are  realized  elsewhere 
under  governmental  conditions  that  are  more  favorable  to  the  development  of  the 
people.  Liberia  cannot  hope  to  attract  large  expenditures  of  philanthropic  or  mission 
funds  until  there  is  a  prospect  that  the  more  serious  problems  of  government  will  be 
solved.  It  is  equally  true  that  the  final  solution  of  economic  and  political  problems 
requires  the  education  of  the  masses  of  the  people.  Temporary  arrangements  may  be 
made  to  tide  over  the  decades  that  must  elapse  until  education  is  sufficiently  general 
to  enable  the  people  to  participate  effectively  in  the  government.  The  policies  of  social 
development  require  that  they  shall  look  forward  to  the  time  when  the  temporary 
measures  shall  be  replaced  by  those  that  are  dependent  upon  communities  of  people 
who  are  prepared  by  education  to  share  the  responsibilities  of  government. 

In  view  of  these  perplexing  social  and  political  conditions,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  educational  activities  of  missions  have  not  been  more  effective  in  the  coast 
regions  and  have  not  penetrated  into  the  interior.  The  societies  deserve  great  credit 
for  their  continued  devotion  under  conditions  that  often  appeared  so  hopeless. 
Though  their  success  has  not  been  great,  they  have  maintained  and  extended  a  nucleus 
of  civilization  that  may  be  still  further  developed  under  favorable  conditions  of  educa- 
tion and  government  until  the  republic  has  attained  the  ideals  for  which  it  was  founded. 
The  ideal  of  self-government  by  a  group  of  African  people  is  worthy  of  great  sacrifices 
by  both  Africans  and  those  who  are  interested  in  Africa.  As  the  commission  of  1919 
stated:  "Liberia  has  been  made  to  feel  that  her  national  existence  is  threatened  by 
powerful  neighbors  without,  and  weakness  within."  It  is  generally  agreed  that  the 
problems  confronting  the  government  are  even  more  serious  at  the  present  time 
than  they  were  in  1909. 

The  f  utiire  possibilities  of  educational  and  religious  endeavor  in  Liberia  and,  indeed, 
the  future  of  the  republic,  seem  now  about  to  be  determined  by  the  success  or  the  defeat 
of  the  proposed  American  loan.  It  is  essential  that  the  republic  of  Liberia  and  its 
friends  shall  fully  appreciate  the  vital  differences  that  will  result  from  the  successful 
administration  of  the  American  loan  or  by  the  defeat  or  unsuccessful  administration 
of  that  loan.  On  this  issue  will  depend  also  the  policies  of  mission  boards  and  others 
concerned  with  education  and  religion  in  Liberia. 

The  successful  administration  of  the  American  loan  will  in  aU  probabiUty  open 


316 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


the  way  so  that  large  and  effective  measures  of  education  and  religion  may  be  made 
possible.  Port  facilities  will  be  supplied;  roads  will  be  extended  into  the  interior; 
sanitary  measures  will  be  provided;  agriculture,  industry,  and  commerce  will  be  en- 
couraged. On  this  basis  of  health  and  economics  the  morals  and  morale  of  the  people 
will  be  improved.  Schools  and  churches  will  be  established  and  multiplied,  not  only 
through  the  encouragement  of  mission  boards,  but  much  more  through  the  efforts  of 
the  people  themselves. 

The  refusal  of  the  United  States  to  grant  the  loan  or  its  failure  to  administer  the 
loan  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  agreement  will  leave  Liberia  alone  to  work 
out  its  development.  Lack  of  financial  resources  within  the  republic  and  failure  to 
obtain  credit  on  favorable  terms  without  would  defer  indefinitely  the  sanitary  improve- 
ments, the  economic  development,  and  the  educational  facilities  so  vital  to  the  welfare 
of  the  Liberian  people.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  Liberia  can  continue  to  maintain  even 
her  present  status  in  the  face  of  competition  with  neighboring  colonies  without  such 
necessities  of  civilized  society  as  roads,  port  facilities,  agricultural  development,  a 
sound  system  of  finance,  sanitary  control,  and  the  educational  improvement  of  the 
masses  of  the  people.  Missions  must  organize  their  work  with  full  appreciation  of 
the  difficulties  confronting  them.  Reservations  and  precautions  not  required  under 
the  normal  conditions  of  colonial  administration  will  need  to  be  provided  and  the 
expectation  of  results  will  need  to  be  on  an  entirely  different  basis  from  that  in  most 
other  parts  of  Africa. 

The  outstanding  defects  in  the  administration  of  education  in  Liberia  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  inability  of  the  government  at  present  to  give  any  financial  aid  to  educa- 
tion.  If  the  American  loan  is  successful,  funds  will  be  available. 

2.  The  failure  of  the  government  and  missions,  with  few  exceptions,  to  suit  the 
curriculum  of  the  existing  schools  to  the  needs  of  the  people. 

3.  The  concentration  of  most  of  the  mission  schools  in  widely-scattered  coast 
settlements,  resulting  in  neglect  of  interior  tribes,  duplication  of  school  facilities  in 
the  coast  settlements,  and  ineffective  supervision. 

The  following  recommendations  indicate  the  general  lines  of  improvement: 

1.  That  the  authority  of  the  Board  of  Education,  appointed  by  the  government 
to  represent  the  government  and  mission  societies,  be  enlarged  not  only  to  plan  a 
program  of  education,  but  also  to  choose  a  superintendent  of  education  with  large 
powers  in  the  administration  of  the  schools.  It  would  be  unfortunate  if  this  authority 
were  used  to  limit  the  right  of  any  society  to  present  its  conceptions  of  religion  or  to 
introduce  any  educational  activities  for  the  welfare  of  the  Liberian  Government  and 
people. 

2.  That  the  Liberian  system  of  education  provide  schools  first,  to  train  teachers, 
ministers,  and  leaders  for  the  masses  of  the  people;  second,  to  educate  the  masses; 
and  third,  to  give  professional  training  in  medicine,  law,  theology,  and  science.  This 
important  recommendation  is  explained  at  length  in  Chapters  II,  III,  and  IV  of  this 
Report.  Provision  for  professional  training  at  the  present  time  requires  arrangements 


LIBERIA 


317 


to  send  students  to  American  or  European  Universities.  The  teachers  and  leaders 
should  have  access  to  the  great  truths  of  physical  and  social  science,  and  the  inspira- 
tion of  history  and  literature.  The  education  of  the  masses  should  include  such  ele- 
ments as  health,  ability  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  country,  household  arts,  sound 
recreation,  rudiments  of  knowledge,  character  development,  and  community  responsi- 
bility.  The  education  of  women  and  girls  should  receive  special  consideration. 

3.  That  mission  boards  be  encouraged  to  concentrate  their  activities  in  contiguous 
areas  so  that  their  schools  and  churches  may  be  effectively  organized  and  supervised. 
If  a  board  has  adequate  personnel  and  funds,  it  is  possible  to  maintain  and  supervise 
schools  even  though  located  in  different  parts  of  the  republic. 

The  school  systems  most  successful  in  different  parts  of  Africa  include  a  central 
teacher-training  school  with  boarding  pupils,  community  center  schools  with  board- 
ing facilities,  local  day  schools  with  effective  activities  in  the  community,  and  traveling 
supervisors  to  direct,  advise,  and  inspire  local  teachers.  Every  county  in  Liberia  should 
ultimately  provide  such  a  system. 

4.  That  special  effort  be  made  to  extend  education  into  the  interior  country. 
The  highway  system  proposed  by  the  American  loan  plans  would  aid  in  this  important 
undertaking.  Even  without  the  roads,  the  results  to  be  attained  would  merit  the  addi- 
tional cost  of  time,  money,  and  hardships. 

5.  That  the  government  and  missions  cooperate  to  develop  extension  work  in 
agriculture  and  hygiene  similar  to  that  so  successfully  maintained  by  the  United  States 
Government  in  rural  districts. 


INDEX 


Abetifi  Seminary  for  Training  Catechists  and 

Pastors   136 

Aburi  Girls'  Boarding  School   137 

Accra  Baptist  School   141 

Accra  Boarding  School  for  Girls   138 

Accra  Royal  School   141 

Adamson,  J.  E   198 

Adaptation  of  Education   11,  16-37 

In  Life  of  Individual   18 

Rural  Community   28 

Urban   35 

Adequacy  of  Education   9 

Administration  of  Education   54 

Natal   195 

See  also  supervision 

Advisory  Board,  Natal   196 

African  Education  Commission 

Origin   xii 

Itinerary   xvii 

Personnel   xiv 

Results   xix 

African  Inland  Mission   285 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Society   117 

Schools,  Liberia   312 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Seminary,  Sierra 

Leone   Ill 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Mission  129,  140 

Aggrey,  J.  E.  K   xiv 

Agricultural  Education   32,  72 

In  Secondary  Schools   72 

Agricultural  School  Plant   117 

Agricultural    Workers,    Training  (Belgian 

Congo)   262 

Agriculture   2 

In  Secondary  Education   67 

Akropong  Teachers' Seminary   136 

Albert  Academy  for  Young  men,  Freetown.  .  .  110 

Alberta  Industrial  School   260 

Amanzimtoti  Institute                        47,  211,  221 

American  Baptist  Foreign  Missionary  Society 

275,  277,  278 

American  Colonization  Society   313 

American  Congregational  Missions. .  .  235,  239,  244 

American  Influences   7 

American  Methodist  Missionary  Society. .  235,  237 
American  Methodist  Mission,  Southern  Rho- 
desia  219 

American  Mission  Stations,  Belgian  Congo . .  .  269 

American  Presbyterian  Mission   280 

American  Southern  Baptist  Society   169 

American  Wesleyan  Mission   117 

American  Zulu  Mission   211 

Health  Activities  .'   213 

Americo-Liberians   291,295 

Amusements  25,  36 

Anet,  H   xiv 

Anglican  Boys' School,  Ibadan   159 

Anglican  Church,  in  Nigeria   161 

Anglican  Order  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist.  . .  .  207 


Angola....   224-247 

Economic  and  Sociological  Background. . .  .  224 

Education   231 

European  Organizations   226 

Map   227 

People   226 

Recommendations   245 

Resources   225 

Revenues   230 

Angola  Methodist  Mission   239 

Animal  Life   2,  20 

Annie  Walsh  Memorial  School,  Sierra  Leone  .  Ill 

Arabic,  Taught  in  Bo  School   115 

Armstrong,  General  S.  C   29 

On  Secondary  Education  69,  70 

Arnott,  Mrs.,  Work  with  Scottish  Mission ...  166 

Aro  Chuku  School-Home  for  Girls   166 

Art,  in  Secondary  Education   68 

Arthington  Fund   207 

Ashanti   121 

Asylo  School   234 

Awka  Training  College   160 

Bailundo  Station   241 

Baluba  Language   252 

Bantu  Men's  Social  Center   37,  216 

Bantu  People   183 

Rural  and  Urban  Distribution   183 

Baptist  Missionary  Society,  236,  271,  275,  277,  278 

Baptist  Schools,  Liberia   312 

Baptists  in  Angola   231 

Basel  Mission   46 

Factories   128 

Plant   78 

School  Supervision   52,  129,  133 

See  also  Scottish  Mission  Schools 

Basutoland   180 

Education   199 

Typical  Educational  Institutions   217 

Bechuanaland   180 

Belgian  Congo   248 

Economic  and  Sociological  Background ....  248 

Education   257 

Health  Conditions   250 

Map   251 

People   250 

Recommendations   285 

Resources   250 

Belgian  Protestant  Mission   285 

Bendoo  Mission  Station   309 

Bethany  Gu-ls' School   308 

Bethel  Station  School   310 

Beveridge  Scientific  and  General  Scholarship 

Fund   314 

Bhunga   189 

Bloemfontein,  Housing  Provisions  in   36 

Bloomfield  Ministerial  Scholarship  Fund   314 

Bo  School  for  Sons  and  Nominees  of  Chiefs .  114,  120 
Bolenge  Mission  Station   78,  279 


INDEX 


S19 


Bolobo  Station   273 

Roma  GoYcrnmcnt  School   2G0 

Boma  School  for  Girls   205 

Bremen  Mission                                      129,  140 

Brewerville  School   312 

BriflRman,  F.  B   215 

Brierly  Memorial  Girls'  School   308 

British  Baptists   235 

AtMaUdi   277 

British  South  Africa   179-223 

Economic  and  Sociological  Background ....  179 

Education   190 

Map   181 

Recommendations   220 

Bromley  Girls'  School   309 

Buildings  and  Grounds   55 

Bush  Schools   41 

See  also  Hedge  Schools 

Business,  Education  for   68 

Buttrick,  Wallace,  on  Booker  T.  Washington .  13 

Calabar  Roman  Catholic  Schools   162 

Canadian  Congregational  Society   241 

Cape  Coast  Boarding  School  for  Girls   138 

Cape  Coast  School  for  Girls   139 

Cape  Coast  Secondary  School   140 

Cape  Mount  Episcopal  Schools   308 

Cape  Palmas  Episcopal  Schools   308 

Cape  Palmas  Methodist  Schools   312 

Cape  Palmas  Seminary   311,312 

Cape  Province   180 

School  Enrollment   191 

System  of  Education   192 

Typical  Educational  Institutions   200 

Cape  Province  Commission  of  1919   222 

Caroline  Donovan  Institute                       307,  314 

Catholic  Mission  Schools.  See  Roman  Catholic 
Missions 

Cattle   2 

Central  Provinces  Church  Missionary  Society 

Schools   160 

Chamberlain,  Wm.  I  xxviii 

"Chapel  Schools"   268 

Character,  Education  for  27,  60 

Chileso  Station   241 

Chilonda  Station   243 

Chisamba  Station   242 

Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance   117,  284 

Christian  Education  Essentials   10 

See  also  Religious  Instruction 

Church  Attendance,  Liberia   298 

Sierra  Leone   108 

Church  Missionary  Society   158,  173 

Church  Missionary  Society  Girls'  School, 

Ibadan   159 

Church  Missionary  Society  Girls'  Training 

School   160 

Church  Missionary  Society  Grammar  School 

for  Young  Men,  Freetown   110 

Church  Missionary  Society  School  for  Girls, 

Onitsha   157 

Church  Missionary  Society  Training  Schools, 

Onitsha   77 

Church  of  England  Schools,  Gold  Coast   140 

Cinematograph,  in  Mining  Compounds. . .  .  37,  216 


Cities,  Community  Activities  in   64 

"City  Locations"   186 

Classical  Languages,  Emphasis  Upon  26,  119 

Clifford,  Sir  Hugh,  120,  129.  145,  153.  167,  174 

Coeducation   21 

College  of  West  Africa   314 

Colleges  48.  76 

Colonial  Officers.  See  Government  Cooperation, 
European  Organizations 

Colonization  Societies,  Liberia   300,  305,  313 

Commercial  and  Industrial  Concerns   8 

Cooperation  in  Education   82 

In  Sierra  Leone   107 

Welfare  Work   64 

Commission  for  the  Protection  of  Natives 

81,  256,  259 

Commission  on  Native  Education,  Report.  . .  193 

Commonwealth  Trust   128 

Community  Activities  30,  63 

Community  Education   28 

School  and   77 

Urban   35 

Congo  Balolo  Mission   284 

Congo  Commission  for  the  Protection  of  Na- 
tives   94 

Congo  Evangelical  Mission   285 

Congo  Evangelical  Training  Institute   275 

Congo  General  Conference  of  Protestant  Mis- 
sionaries; Resolutions  on  Mission  Educa- 
tion 286 

Congo  Inland  Mission   285 

Congregationalists   231,  235 

See  also  London  Missionary  Society  and 
American  Congregational  Missions 

Coomassie  Senior  School   140 

Cooperation  Between  Government  and  Private 

Organizations   259 

Cooperation  in  Education   9,  11,  12 

t  Elements   81 

"Forms   89 

Cotton   2.  3 

County  Training  Schools   44 

Couve,  Daniel   xiv 

Creek  Town  Normal  School  for  Girls   165 

Creoles,  in  Freetown   98 

Crowther,  Rev.  Samuel   158 

Curriculum  for  Urban  Communities   35 

Currie  Institute   239 

Cuttington  College  and  Divinity  School   309 

Dakar,  College  Opportunities   48 

Diamond  Fields   2 

Diocesan  Technical  School,  Sierra  Leone   112 

Disciples  of  Christ  Congo  Mission   278 

Dondi  Training  Institutions   239 

Donovan  Fund   314 

Donovan  Industrial  School   309.  314 

Dube,  John  L   212 

Duke  Town  Day  School   166 

Duplication  of  Schools   42 

Durban,  Hospital  78.  213 

Housing  Provisions   36 

Dutch  Reformed  Church,  Training  for  Teach- 
ers  199,  217 


320 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


Economic  Resources   1 

See  under  name  of  Colony 

Edgerley  Memorial,  Calabar                      77,  163 

Educational  Adaptations 
See  Adaptation  of  Education 

Educational  Ideals   13 

Educational  Organization   11 

Educational  Psychology   69 

Edwards,  Mrs.,  Retired  Principal  at  Inanda.  .  212 

Elementary  Schools   43 

Education  of  the  Masses   59-61 

Organization   43 

Elisabethville  Government  School   260 

Elisabethville  Station   283 

Employment  Bureaus   37 

Environment,  Use  in  Education   20 

European  Organizations   7,  81 

Angola   226 

Belgian  Congo   253 

Gold  Coast   126 

Nigeria   152 

Sierra  Leone   105 

Extension  Activities,  of  Government  Depart- 
ments                                               64,  157 

Extensive  Versus  Intensive  Methods   41 

■/ 

Farm  and  Agricultural  School,  Rhodesia   218 

Farm  Animals   21 

Farm  Demonstration  Movement   32 

Farm  Makers'  Clubs   34 

Financial  Records   54 

Fleming,  D.  J   77 

Forestry   2 

Foulahs   103 

Fourah  Bay  College  48,  108,  109,  119 

Franchise  Qualifications,  Union  of  South  Africa  187 

Freetown,  Population   98 

Schools   108 

Freetown  Secondary  Schools  for  Young  Men.  119 

Freetown  Secondary  Schools  for  Young  Women  120 

Frissell,  HoUis  B   12 

Fruits   2 

Fulton  Professorship  Fund   314 

Games   25 

Garanganza  Evangelical  Mission   285 

Gardening  20,  21 

In  Secondary  Education   67 

Garraway  Mission   312 

General  Education  Board  13,  29 

Work  in  Farm  Demonstration   32 

Geography,  in  Local  Day  Schools   61 

Gibson,  B.  D.,  on  Farm  Demonstration  Move- 
ment in  United  States   33 

Gold  Coast   121-144 

Economic  and  Sociological  Background  ...  121 

Education   129 

Map   123 

People   121 

Recommendations   141 

Resources   125 

Gold  Fields   2,3 

Gouldsbury,  Cullen,  "To  Mother  Africa".  ...  9 
Government,  Cooperation  with  Missions  in 

Education   81,  90 


Government  Agricultural  Museum  and  Experi- 
ment Station,  Loanda   230 

Government  Departments,  Extension  Activ- 
ities                                               64,  157 

Government  Executive  Councils,  Cooperation 

for  Education   94 

Government  Expenditures,  Gold  Coast   1 27 

Nigeria   153 

Sierra  Leone   106 

Government    Industrial    School,  Northern 

Nigeria   171 

Government  Industrial  School,  Sierra  Leone.  .  112 
Government  Model  School,  Freetown.  .  .  .  108,  112 
Government  Survey  School,  Northern  Nigeria  172 
Government  Technical  School  at  Accra  47,  132 
Government  Training  Institution  for  Teach- 
ers, Gold  Coast   132 

Graham  Fund   314 

Grains   2 

Graves  School,  Cape  Coast   141 

Guggisberg,  Sir  Frederick  Gordon,  xx,  126,  129,  142 

Hampton  Institute  11,  13,  29.  69,  70,  201 

Handicrafts  21,  61,  69,  201,  202,  294 

Hartzell  Institute   312 

Haulonda  Station   244 

Healdtown  Normal  School   205 

Health   18,  23 

In  Cities   37 

In  Local  Day  Schools   61 

In  Secondary  Schools   66 

In  Belgian  Congo   254 

Healthfulness  of  Africa   4 

Heart  of  Africa  Mission   285 

"Hedge  Schools,"  in  Nigeria   174 

Helping  Hand  Club  for  Native  Girls,  Trans- 
vaal  215 

Hemptinne  St.  Benedictus   266 

Henderson,  James  xx,  201,  202 

High  Schools.   See  Secondary  Education 

Higher  Education,  Union  of  South  Africa. . .  .  200 

History  in  Local  Day  Schools   61 

In  Secondary  Schools   67 

Ilollenbeck,  H.  S   xiv 

Holy  Cross  Order,  Schools  in  Liberia   309 

Home  Demonstration  Movement   33 

Home  Life,  Preparation  for   22 

In  Cities   36 

Hope  Fountain  School  for  Girls   218 

Hope-Waddell  Training  Institution,  47, 157, 163, 164 

Hostels,  Union  Mission   93 

Household  Arts,  in  Secondary  Education ....  68 

Housing  36,  101,  185 

Howells,  A.  W   161 

Huss,  Father  Bernard   210 

Hygiene.  See  Health,  Health  Education 

Ibadan  Training  Institution,  Wesleyan   168 

Ibo  Missions   158 

Improvability  of  African  People   5,  86 

See  Native  Participation,  Etc. 

Inanda  Seminary   21 

Independent  Schools,  Gold  Coast   141 

Industrial  Training.  See  Handicrafts 

Inspection  in  Natal   195 


INDEX 


321 


Sec  also  Administration,  Supervision 

IntcrmciJiiitc  Schools   62 

Natal   195 

Intermissionary  Activities   93 

Interracial  Cooperation   95 

Union  of  South  Africa   189 

lyi  Enu  Hospital   160 

Jeanes  Fund  29,  52 

Johannesburg,  Recreation   37 

Religious  and  Social  Agencies  for  Natives. .  214 

Jones,  Neville   219 

Jones,  Thomas  Jesse  xiii,  xiv,  xxvi 

Kabongo  Station   284 

Kambove  Station   283 

Kamundongo  Station   241 

Kano  City,  Government  Schools   145 

Kapanga  Station   284 

Kapango  Station   79,  244 

Keigwin,  H.  S   200,  218 

Kibokolo  Station   237 

Kikongo  Language   252 

Kilnerton  Native  Training  Institution   214 

Kimbundu  Language   226 

Kimberley,  Housing  Conditions   186 

Kimberley  Anglican  School  for  non-Europeans  206 

Kimpesi  Evangelical  Training  Institutes   275 

Kimpesi  Roman  Catholic  School  for  Boys   265 

Kindu  School   267 

King  of  Belgium   81 

Kings  College   157 

Kisantu  Jesuit  School  for  Boys  '. .  .  77, 264 

Kisantu  School  for  Girls   265 

Kisi  Kongo  Language   226 

Knapp,  Seaman  A.,  and  Farm  Demonstration 

Movement   32 

Kpolopepe  Station  School   310 

Krutown  Day  School   309 

Lagos  Church  Missionary  Society  Schools   158 

Lagos  Roman  Catholic  Schools   161 

Languages  in  Secondary  Education   67 

In  Belgian  Congo   252 

Languages  of  Instruction  25,  60 

Leadership,  Education  for.  ,  11,  43 

Leisure  Time,  Training  in  Use  of  25,  37 

Lemmer,  Gen.  L.  A.  S   188 

Le  Roy,  A.  E  211,  221 

Lever  Brothers  Oil  Company,  School   260 

Liberia   290-317 

Economic  and  Sociological  Background  . . .  290 

Economic  Possibilities   298 

Education   305 

Government   300 

Map   293 

Recommendations   315 

Liberia  College   307 

Liberian  Loan,  Proposed  290,  291,  302-305 

Importance  for  Education   305,  315 

Limbas,  Tribe   103 

Lindley,  Daniel   211 

Lingala  Language   252 

Lingua  Franca   26 

In  Belgian  Congo   252 


Loanda  Station   237 

Local  Day  School   44 

In  Education  of  Masses   60 

Log  Book   56 

London  Missionary  Society   207,  219 

Loram,  C.  T   xvi 

On  Supervision  and  Inspection   51 

On  Tribal  System   184 

Member  of  Native  Affairs  Commission ....  188 

Lotumba  Station   280 

Lott  Carey  Baptist  Mission   312 

Lovedale  Missionary  Institution 

47,  48,  200,  201-204 

Lubefu   282 

Lubolo  District   238 

Luchazi  Language   226 

Luebo  Station   280 

Lugard,  Sir  Frederick   145,  147,  171 

Lutheran  Church  Missions   309 

Matos,  Senhor  Norton  de   228 

Decree  on  Mission  Education   231 

McCord,  Dr.  J.  B   213 

Macvicar,  Dr.  Neil   201,  203 

Malange  District   238 

Manual  Training,  in  Secondary  Schools   71 

Manannhill  Institute   209 

Maryland  Colonization  Society   313 

Massachusetts  Colonization  Society   313 

Masses,  Education  of   11,  43,  59 

Matadi  Mission  Stations   277 

Mathematics,  in  Secondary  Education   67 

Means  Training  School  for  Girls   240 

Mechanical  Arts,  in  Secondary  Education ....  68 

Medical  Training   19,74,91,213 

Methodist.     See   American   Methodist  and 
Southern  Methodist 

Middle  School   45,61 

Military  Training  Schools  for  Natives,  Bel- 
gian Congo   262 

Miller,  Dr.  W.  R.  S   173 

Mills,  Kitson   141 

Mission  Schools,  Types  of  Service   91 

Mission  Societies,  Cooperation  in  Education .  92 

Missionaries   7,  38 

Missions,  Achievements   11 

Cooperation  with  Government  in  Education  90 

Misunderstandings  of  Africa   1 

Mohammedan  Schools          113,  117,  157,  173,  178 

Mondombe  Station   280 

Monieke  Station   280 

Monrovia  College  and  Industrial  Training 

School   312 

Motion  Pictures.  See  Cinematograph 

Mo  ton,  Robert  Russa,  at  Lincoln  Memorial ...  12 

Movable  Schools   31 

Moyamba  Girls'  School  113,  114,  120 

Muhlenberg  Institute  for  Girls   310 

Muhlenberg  Mission  Boys'  School   310 

Music,  in  Secondary  Education   68 

Mutoto  Training  Center   282 

Nana  Km  Mission   312 

Natal   180 

School  Enrollment   191 


322 


EDUCATION  IN  AFRICA 


System  of  Education   194 

Tj-pical  Educational  Institutions   208 

Natal  Missionary  Board  of  Advice   81,  94 

Natal  Native  Affairs  Commission,  Report.  ...  50 

Nationalism  and  Education   80 

Native  Afifairs  Commission,  Union  of  South 

Africa   188,  200 

Native  Affairs  Department,  Union  of  South 

Africa   186,  187 

Native  Churches,  Transvaal   215 

Native  Councils   94 

Natives  in  the  Towns   185 

Native  Languages   25 

Publications  in   93 

Native  Leadership,  Education  for  65,  95 

Native  Medical  Assistants   254,  261 

Native  Participation  in  Education   86 

Native  Pastorate  of  the  Anglican  Church.  . .  .  116 

Native  Rulers,  Liberia   294 

Native  Tribal  System   184 

Native  Villages,  Liberia   294 

Natives,  Cooperation  in  Education   86 

New  York  Colonization  Society   313,  314 

Niger  Delta  Pastorate   161 

Nigeria   145 

Density  of  Population   145 

Economic  and  Sociological  Background  .  .  .  152 

Education   155 

Map   147 

People   146 

Physiographic  Belts   146 

Recommendations  for  Education   174 

Njala  Agriculture  Training  School. . .  .114,  115,  120 
North  German  Mission.    See  Bremen  Mission 

Northern  Methodist  Congo  Mission   282 

Northern  Nigeria,  Education   169 

Northern  Rhodesia   180 

Ntondo  Station   276 

"Occupation  of  the  Field"   39 

Occupations,  in  Freetown  and  Vicinity   100 

Of  Lovedale  ex-Students   204 

Ogbomosho  Baptist  Station  and  School   169 

Ohlange  Institute   212 

Onitsha  Industrial  School   161 

Orange  Free  State   180 

Education   198 

School  Enrollment   191 

School  Supervision   51 

Typical  Educational  Institutions   216 

Organization  and  Supervision  of  Education .  .  38-56 

Organization  of  Education   11,  38 

O.xford  and  Cambridge  Local  Examinations.  .  26 

Oyo  Baptist  Mission   169 

Oyo  Province  Church  Missionary  Society 

Schools   159 

Paris  Evangelical  Society   217 

Pass  Laws   186 

Patten  Memorial  School   311 

Peabody,  Francis  Greenwood,  on  Hampton 

Institute   70 

Phelps-Stokes  Fund  xii,  xiii,  xxvi 

Physiology  in  Secondary  Education   66 

"Pidgin  English"   98 


Plateaus   2 

Plymouth  Brethren,  in  Angola   235,  243 

Portuguese  in  Angola   228 

Portuguese  Examinations,  Angola   238 

Practice  Teaching   69 

Primary  Schools,  Angola   231 

Natal   195 

See  also  Elementary  Schools 

Primitive  Methodist  Society   163,  168 

Professional  Training  43,  48 

Project  Method   73 

Protectorate,  Sierra  Leone,  Population   102 

Resources   104 

Schools   113 

Protestant  Boards,  Resolutions  on  Belgian 

Government   258 

Protestant  Episcopal  Mission  Board,  Town  of 

Liberia   292 

Protestant  Episcopal  Missions,  Liberia   307 

Provincial  School,  Northern  Nigeria   171 

Qua  Iboe  Mission   163,  168 

Quionqua   238 

Racial  Groups,  Union  of  South  Africa   184 

Railroads  106,  127,  226,  228,  249,  255 

Reality  of  Education   9 

Recommendations.    See  under  colony  names 

Recreation  25,  36,  61 

Religious  Instruction  37,  60 

Religious  Life  27,  34 

Liberia   295 

Religious  Workers,  Training  of   74 

Rhodesia,  Education   199 

Typical  Educational  Institutions   217 

Riat  Norton  de  Matos  School   234 

Richmond  College   138 

Ricks  Institute   312 

Roads  106,  127,  226,  228 

Roberts,  A.  W  188 

Rodger,  Sir  John  P   126.  141 

Roman  Catholic  Convent  for  Girls,  Lagos   162 

Roman  Catholic  Girls'  School,  Lagos   157 

Roman  Catholic  Missions 

112,  116,  129,  139,  161,  235,  263,  313 
Rosenwald  Schools   45 

Type  Plan   63 

Roy,  Leo  A   xvi 

Rural  Economics   67 

Rural  Education   28.  29,  30 

Sachikela  Station   243 

St.  Andrews  Training  College   159 

St.  Cuthbert's  Mission   207 

St.  Gregory  Grammar  School  for  Boys   161 

St.  Hilda's  High  School  for  Native  Girls ...    77,  209 

St.  John's  Academy  and  Industrial  School.  .  .  308 

St.  Joseph's  School  at  Luluabourg   266 

San  Salvador  Station   236 

Sanitation   18,  23 

In  Secondary  Education   66 

Scenery   3 

School  Accounts   54 

School  Activities   30 

School  Administration   54 


INDEX 


323 


School  Ruildings   61 

School  Program,  Local  Day  School   CO 

School  Records   5  t 

School  Subjects   20 

Science  in  Local  Day  School   61 

In  Secondary  Education   66 

Scottish  Mission   46 

Plan  of  Supervision   52 

Schools   133-136,  157,  163 

Secondary  Education  and  Native  Leadership.  66 

Secondary  Schools   46 

Trade  Training   71 

Segregation  of  Natives   186 

Self-Determination   10,86 

Seventh  Day  Adventist  Schools   112,  141,  285 

Sharp,  Sir  Alfred,  on  African  Plateaus   2 

Sierra  Leone   97-120 

Economic  and  Sociological  Background  ...  97 

Education   107 

Map   99 

Recommendations   117 

Sinoe  River  Industrial  Mission   312 

Slater,  Governor  in  Sierra  Leone   105 

Slater  Fund   29 

Slessor  Memorial  Home,  Aro  Chuku   77,  157 

Smuts,  J.  C,  Premier   187 

Appointment  of  Native  Affairs  Commission  188 

Social  Studies  in  Secondary  Education   67 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel. . .  .  129 

Sociology  and  Education   92 

Soil,  Use  in  Education   20 

Soil  Cultivation  ■  ■    ^1 

Sona  Bata  Station   277 

South  African  General  Mission   236,  244 

South  African  Native  College   48,  200,  205 

Southern  Baptists.    See  American  Southern 
Baptist  Society 

Southern  Methodist  Congo  Mission   282 

Southern  Nigeria   153 

Education   156 

Southern  Rhodesia   179 

Education   199 

Southwest  Africa  Protectorate   180 

Stanleyville  Government  School   260 

Stofberg  Gedenk  Native  Training  Institution  217 

Stokes,  Anson  Phelps  xii,  xxv,  xx\'iii 

Founders  Day  Address  at  Hampton  Institute  6 

Stokes  Theological  School   311 

Student  Records   55 

Sub-Department  of  Native  Labor   187 

Sub-Primary  Schools,  Natal   195 

Sudan  United  Mission   173,  174 

Supervision  11,49 

Supervision  and  Inspection  of  Schools   51 

Swahili  Language   252 

Swaziland   180 

Swedish  Mission   277,  278 

Swiss  Mission   235,  244 

Technical  Schools   120 

See  Governmental  Technical  Schools,  Accra, 
Northern  Nigeria 

Telegraph  and  Telephone   106,  127 

Teacher-Training   68 

Teachers,  as  Social  Workers   35 


In  Agriculture   73 

In  Local  Day  Schools   60 

Teachers' Aid,  Natal   196 

Temne  Tribe,  Sierra  Leone   98,  103 

Thaba  'Nchu  Girls'  Industrial  School   216 

Three  R's   61 

Tiger  Kloof  Native  Institution   206 

Trade  Schools,  Elementary   71 

Secondary   71 

Transkcian  Territories,  Native  Bhunga   189 

Transvaal   180 

School  Enrollment   191 

System  of  Education   197 

Typical  Educational  Institutions   213 

Trinity  School,  Monrovia   309 

Tshumbiri  Station   277 

Tsolo  Agricultural  School   47,  208 

Turner,  Fennell  P  xxii,  xxviii 

Tuskegee  Institute  11, 12, 13,  29,  201 

Farm  Makers'  Club   34 

Movable  Schools   31 

Trades  and  Handicrafts   70 

Umbundu  Language   226 

Umtali   219 

Union  of  South  Africa                               179,  180 

Provision  for  Education   200 

Racial  Distribution   182 

Resources   182 

School  Enrollment   191 

Summarv  of  Recommendations   221 

United  Brethren  Schools                           110,  116 

United  Methodist  Collegiate  School,  Sierra 

Leone   Ill 

United  Methodist  Society  Schools   116 

United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 

Farm  Demonstration  Work   29 

University  Race  Commission   95 

Upoto  Station   273 

Urban  Community  Education   35 

Vegetables   2 

Victoria  Hospital   203 

WaddeU,  Rev.  Hope   163 

Washington,  Booker  T   13 

Welfare  Work   64 

Wemba  Niama   282 

Wesleyan  Boys'  High  School,  Freetown   110 

Wesleyan  Girls'  High  School,  Sierra  Leone.  .  Ill 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Missionary  Society 

110,  112,  117,  137.  167 

Wesleyan  Training  School  for  Agents   139 

W^esleyan  Training  School  for  Boys,  Ibadan. .  157 

Westcott  Brothers'  Mission   285 

White  Fathers'  Outstation  Schools   268 

^Tiite  Plains  Industrial  Institute   311 

Wilkie,  A.  W  xvi,  xviii,  xx 

AYilkie,  Mrs.  A.  W.,  on  Movable  Schools   31 

On  Women  in  Africa   88 

Wilkinson,  Governor  in  Sierra  Leone   105 

Women,  Education  24,  88 

Yakusu  Station   78,  271 

Yalemba  Station   272 

Yoruba  Missions   158 


I 


''lllllli Seminary  Libra, 


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